"One in 20 Britons does not believe Holocaust took place, poll finds"

[Quetzalcoatl]

One in 20 Britons does not believe Holocaust took place, poll finds

Call for better education after scale of ignorance is revealed in survey to coincide with memorial day

One in 20 British adults do not believe the Holocaust happened, and 8% say that the scale of the genocide has been exaggerated, according to a poll marking Holocaust Memorial Day.

Almost half of those questioned said they did not know how many Jews were murdered in the Holocaust, and one in five grossly underestimated the number, saying that fewer than two million were killed. At least six million Jews died.

The poll, commissioned by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust, a charity established and funded by the UK government to promote and support the international day of remembrance, echoes the findings of a survey carried out in seven European countries in November.

That poll found that one in three people knew little or nothing about the Holocaust, and an average of 5% said they had never heard of it. In France, 20% of those aged 18-34 said they had never heard of the Holocaust; in Austria, the figure was 12%. A survey in the US last year found that 9% of millennials said they had not heard, or did not think they had heard, of the Holocaust.

[Tassie Dave]

David Irving has a lot to answer for 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Irving

[Rai]

David Irving has a lot to answer for 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Irving

I would put the blame at the feet of the tech bros running social media who are making sure that their platforms are safe havens for nazis.

And generally everyone who has been assisting or even downplaying the nazi infestation that we are struggling with at the moment.

[Sawyer]

I used to use Holocaust denial as my example of how not giving anyone a soapbox and attaching a tremendous amount of shame to an issue was more effective than the standard "free inquiry" approach promoted by some skeptics.  Compared to the other insane ideas that 20-30% of the general population are willing to endorse, I think keeping anything at the 5% threshold should count as a success.  Regardless, I wouldn't put much stock in vacuous goals like "more education is needed" doing anything at all to lower those percentages.

[amysrevenge]

I kind of wonder about some of these studies though.  The one circulating these parts recently was about how many Canadians couldn't name a single concentration camp.  I forget the percentage, but it was deemed shockingly high: "something must be done", that sort of thing..

To me, naming concentration camps is pretty trivial; not really what to focus on.  There have been times in my life where I could have named 2 or 3 - today I can only name 1 without googling.  But I generally know the lessons that are to be learned from the whole situation.

[Ah.hell]

The BBC podcast, "more or less" just discussed this.  They specialize in analyzing numbers used in the media.  They do not trust this number due to some issues with methodology. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02nrss1/episodes/downloads

[wastrel]

One in 20 sounds so much scarier to me than 5% for some reason.

[JohnM]

One in 20 sounds so much scarier to me than 5% for some reason.

Or 95% accept the evidence of the Holocaust. I doubt any other area which suffers so much from disinformation performs as well as this. 

[Tassie Dave]

One in 20 sounds so much scarier to me than 5% for some reason.

Or 95% accept the evidence of the Holocaust. I doubt any other area which suffers so much from disinformation performs as well as this.

It depends on how you read the survey. It could be read as 87% accept the evidence of the Holocaust.
5% deny it happened and 8 percent believe it has been exaggerated.

Mel Gibson's dad Hutton is a noted Holocaust denier.

[God Bomb]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

[wastrel]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

So you are asserting with zero evidence that 100% of Biton Muslims do not believe in the Holocaust.  That has to be the stupidest statement I've heard in at least a week, and I follow Trump on Twitter.

[John Albert]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

So you are asserting with zero evidence that 100% of Biton Muslims do not believe in the Holocaust.

No, God Bomb did not "assert" any such thing. I'd consider it something of a stretch to say he even implied that.

[God Bomb]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

So you are asserting with zero evidence that 100% of Biton(sic) Muslims do not believe in the Holocaust.  That has to be the stupidest statement I've heard in at least a week, and I follow Trump on Twitter.

I agree your first sentence is a stupid statement.

[wastrel]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

So you are asserting with zero evidence that 100% of Biton Muslims do not believe in the Holocaust.

No, God Bomb did not "assert" any such thing. I'd consider it something of a stretch to say he even implied that.

What then was the point of his post?  I agree my "assertion" comment was incorrect, but I very much think this was implied, otherwise what is the point of the post?

If not to imply it, then it is an utter vacuous statement.  Some similar sentiments:

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of people aged 5-9 in Britain is also 1/20.    Children and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of people of Indian and Pakistani descent in Britain is also 1/20.    Subcontinent heritage and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of UK Citizens living in Scotland is also 1/20.    Scots and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

[John Albert]

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of Muslims in Britain is also 1/20.    Islam and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

So you are asserting with zero evidence that 100% of Biton Muslims do not believe in the Holocaust.

No, God Bomb did not "assert" any such thing. I'd consider it something of a stretch to say he even implied that.

What then was the point of his post?  I agree my "assertion" comment was incorrect, but I very much think this was implied, otherwise what is the point of the post?

The point, as I interpreted it, was that the proportion of UK Holocaust deniers might not be comprised entirely of white supremacists, as everybody in this thread seems to be assuming. The 5% figure might also include some proportion of Muslims, a population which is also known to exhibit strong antisemitic inclinations.

If not to imply it, then it is an utter vacuous statement.

I'm unsure what you mean by "vacuous" in this context.

Some similar sentiments:

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of people aged 5-9 in Britain is also 1/20.    Children and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of people of Indian and Pakistani descent in Britain is also 1/20.    Subcontinent heritage and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

I think all the above posts are missing an important point which is that the number of UK Citizens living in Scotland is also 1/20.    Scots and antisemitism are extremely intertwined.

Now those are some truly vacuous statements. Neither children nor Scots are particularly notable for exhibiting antisemitism.

On the other hand, it is well known that antisemitism is a popular prejudice in Muslim culture, which includes Muslims in the UK.