By Michael Golden
On this 80th International Holocaust Remembrance Day, I want to share with you the words and memories of two 95-year-old men: Holocaust survivor Werner Salinger and long-time Holocaust artist Robert Sutz (video above). I interviewed Robert at his studio in Scottsdale, Arizona, for an article I was working on. But I instantly found both of their stories so compelling that I was inspired to shoot and edit this short about them.
As the editor of JEWDICIOUS, I love the way our Scribe Tribe shares and breaks down the history, philosophy, culture and traditions of the Jewish people. The beauty and universality of it all — no matter what our readers’ background. And we love it when you love it.
At the same time, we can never stop retelling the stories of the systematic mass murders perpetrated by the Nazis against six million Jews and millions of other innocent people. And unfortunately, there is now a new reason to shift our reporting and teaching of the Shoah into a higher gear: Troubling new data reveals that an alarming number of young people and adults don’t know much about the Holocaust. Or arguably worse, they are possessed of misinformation or disinformation.
Just last week, a new study was released by the Global Strategy Group. The eight-country “Index of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness” reported that:
When 18-29-year-olds in America were asked to name a concentration camp, death camp or ghetto (there were more than 40,000), 48% could not name a single one.
46% of 18-29-year-olds in France had not heard of the Holocaust, 53% of Romanians believe there were fewer than two million Jews murdered.
Nearly 1 in 2 people report that distortion of the Holocaust is common in their country (U.S. 49%, Hungary 44%, France, 44%, Germany 44%)
76% of Americans believe that the Holocaust could happen again. So did more than 60% in the U.K., France, Austria, and Germany.
There was one piece of good news from the survey: Nine out of 10 adults believe it is important to continue teaching about the Holocaust, in part, so it does not happen again.
And so we will.
To all of the survivors, families, and Holocaust educators and advocates across the world, JEWDICIOUS salutes you. We thank you. And we will always be there for you.
MICHAEL GOLDEN is the Editor-In-Chief of JEWDICIOUS and founder of The Golden Mean.
From navigating the nuances of family and relationships to unpacking history and politics to finding the human angle on sports and entertainment — plus our unsparing take on what’s happening in the Jewish world — the canvas at JEWDICIOUS is limitless!
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