Survey:
PA in Top 10
for Holocaust
Knowledge P
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Lionsgate Sophie Panzer | JE Staff
ennsylvania ranked among the top 10 states in the country
for Holocaust knowledge in a survey recently released by the
Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.

Although the state does not have a Holocaust education mandate,
it scored higher than several states where Holocaust education is
mandated, including New York, New Jersey and California.

The Claims Conference stated that the U.S. Millennial Holocaust
Knowledge and Awareness Survey released Sept. 16 is the first-ever
50-state survey on Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Gen
Z. Researchers calculated their “knowledge score” by using the percent-
age of millennials and Gen Z adults who met all three of the following
criteria: have definitively heard about the Holocaust, can name at least
one concentration camp, death camp or ghetto, and know that 6 million
Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

Even in states that performed relatively well, there were still large
percentages of respondents who did not meet the criteria.

“Also alarming is the high percentage of respondents
saying they believe Jews were responsible for the
Holocaust, or that the Holocaust is a myth or
exaggerated. And Holocaust denial is a form of anti-
Semitism, which is on the rise and dangerous.”
GRETCHEN SKIDMORE
The organization reported that 63% of all national survey respon-
dents did not know that 6 million Jews were murdered, 36% thought
that “2 million or fewer Jews” were killed during the Holocaust and 48%
of national respondents could not name one of 40,000 concentration
camps and ghettos.

Along with Pennsylvania, the states with the highest scores were
Wisconsin, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Maine, Kansas, Nebraska,
Idaho, Iowa and Montana.

The states with the lowest scores were Alaska, Delaware, Maryland,
New York, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, and
Arkansas. The survey has garnered mixed reactions among educators. Some
think the data reflects real problems with Holocaust awareness among
youth, while others find the methodology limited and alarmist.

Gretchen Skidmore, director of education initiatives at the United
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