Major study finds knowledge of the Holocaust fading in Canada

A staggering 22 percent of young Canadians had never heard of the Holocaust, a new report has found

Knowledge of the Holocaust across North America is fading, according to the findings of a major new study of Canadian adults.

Initiated by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) and the Azrieli Foundation, researchers conducted 1,100 interviews and found that Shoah knowledge among Canadian millennials is worryingly low.

A majority of those polled could not name a single Nazi concentration camp and did not know that six million Jews were killed, after recent polling in the United States showed a similar lack of knowledge.

A staggering 22 percent of Canadian millennials aged between 18 and 34 had never heard of, or were unsure if they had ever heard of, the Holocaust, in stark contrast to older Canadians, who were more than twice as likely to have knowledge.

Researchers said the findings show a “substantial lack of personal connection to the Holocaust,” adding: “Most Canadians have never visited a Holocaust museum, nor do they know anyone who has, and they don’t know – or know of – a survivor.”

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