Huge Holocaust/Nazi survey about Austria released

[Tender Branson]

New Survey by the Claims Conference Finds Critical Gaps in Holocaust Knowledge in Austria

Julius Berman, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), announced the release of a comprehensive Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey of adults in Austria.

More than half (56 percent) of those surveyed did not know that six million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. That number rose to 58 percent among Millennials and Gen Z.

Similar to the April 2018 survey the Claims Conference conducted in the United States, the Austrian study identified gaps in awareness of historical facts and knowledge of the Holocaust. The survey also found an alarming number of Austrians (58 percent) indicate that something like the Holocaust could happen again in other European countries.

Austrian perceptions of the neo-Nazi movement in the United States are higher than perceptions in their own country, with 36 percent of respondents saying there are a “great deal” or “many” neo-Nazis in Austria compared to 50 percent who say there are a “great deal” or “many” neo-Nazis in the United States.

“This is the third survey the Claims Conference has conducted globally in the past year to measure Holocaust knowledge and awareness,” Julius Berman noted. “And here again, we are seeing disturbing trends pointing to the lack of Holocaust knowledge. Without education, we risk the history of the Holocaust being distorted and otherwise denied and those who were murdered being forgotten. Effective education is paramount towards ensuring that what happened in the past does not repeat itself.”

PS: This echoes similar results in the Claims Conference Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness studies in the U.S. and in Canada.

http://www.claimscon.org/austria-study

Some excerpts:

. I will now read you the names of some historical figures who are associated with a
particular point in history. For each, please indicate whether or not you are familiar
with him or her.

Adolf Hitler

TOTAL FAMILIAR 98%
TOTAL NOT FAMILIAR 2%

Joseph Goebbels

TOTAL FAMILIAR 76%
TOTAL NOT FAMILIAR 21%
Not sure 3%

Anne Frank

TOTAL FAMILIAR 80%
TOTAL NOT FAMILIAR 18%
Not sure 2%

Oskar Schindler

TOTAL FAMILIAR 86%
TOTAL NOT FAMILIAR 13%
Not sure 1%

Okay, and for the following list of names, please indicate if the individual was a
perpetrator of the Holocaust, a bystander during the Holocaust, or a victim of the
Holocaust:

Adolf Hitler

Perpetrator 95%
Bystander 2%
Victim 1%
Not sure 2%

(...)

Anne Frank

Perpetrator 1%
Bystander 5%
Victim 80%
Not sure 14%

(...)

Amon Göth

Perpetrator 23%
Bystander 4%
Victim 17%
Not sure 56%

1. Have you ever seen or heard the word Holocaust before ?

Yes, I have definitely heard about the
Holocaust
87%
Yes, I think I’ve heard about the Holocaust 9%
No, I don’t think I have heard about the
Holocaust
2%
No, I definitely have not heard about the
Holocaust
2%

2. In your own words, what does the term Holocaust refer to? OPEN ENDED WITH
PRECODES (MULTIPLE ANSWERS ACCEPTED)

Extermination of the Jews/Jewish people 58%
Genocide generally 27%
World War II 16%
The Nazis 7%
Adolf Hitler 6%
Other 15%
Not sure 5%

As I previously mentioned, the term Holocaust refers to the efforts made by the
Nazis to persecute and murder Jews throughout Europe. I will now ask you some more questions about the Holocaust.

13. Approximately how many Jews were killed in the years leading up to the Anschluss
and during the Holocaust? Please select from the following list: SELECT ONE
Approximately:

25,000 2%
100,000 10%
1 million 13%
2 million 11%
6 million 44%
20 million 4%
Not sure 16%

http://www.claimscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Austria-Topline-Results-English-5.2.19.pdf

[Tender Branson]

Some of those findings are quite disturbing.

But considering how our history lessons went down (and how they still are most likely), this is hardly a surprise ...

Usually, you get your history textbook in the 1st class and the teacher in an Austrian class starts with the Stone Age or the dinosaurs. By the time you finish school, you are lucky to have reached WW1 or Austro-Fascism and graduate without much knowledge about WW2 and what happened later on ...

[America Needs R'hllor]

Okay, and for the following list of names, please indicate if the individual was a
perpetrator of the Holocaust, a bystander during the Holocaust, or a victim of the
Holocaust:

Adolf Hitler

Perpetrator 95%
Bystander 2%
Victim 1%
Not sure 2%

(...)

Anne Frank

Perpetrator 1%
Bystander 5%
Victim 80%
Not sure 14%

These are some scalding hot takes.

[Tender Branson]

Here is the US survey for comparison, which is equally disturbing ...

Link

[Thunder98]

Well then....

2% of Americans think the Holocaust happened in the US or Australia. smh

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

These 1% and 2% hot takes might be mostly people trolling the surveyor. I know if someone asked me in apparent seriousness what Hitler's role in the Holocaust was I might be tempted to troll them.

The 10-15% who think the Jews caused the Holocaust are much more worrying, obviously.

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

Some of these 2 way questions seem to have issues of false dichotomy.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

These 1% and 2% hot takes might be mostly people trolling the surveyor. I know if someone asked me in apparent seriousness what Hitler's role in the Holocaust was I might be tempted to troll them.

The 10-15% who think the Jews caused the Holocaust are much more worrying, obviously.

I wonder for how many of these people the answer meant something like "the Jews brought it upon themselves" rather than actually thinking they operated freaking death camps. I remember having a conversation with a person believing in all seriousness the Nazis were "provoked" into this.

When responsibility for the Jedwabne pogrom became a nationwide issue in early 2000s, we've had an ironic saying "the Jews burned themselves", referring to the people who were in a persistent denial about the developments and kept coming up with outlandish "explanations".

[Stranger in a strange land]

Well then....

2% of Americans think the Holocaust happened in the US or Australia. smh

This honestly isn't nearly as bad as I expected.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

Is it bad that I laughed at those who said Israel caused the Holocaust?

[World politics is up Schmitt creek]

These 1% and 2% hot takes might be mostly people trolling the surveyor. I know if someone asked me in apparent seriousness what Hitler's role in the Holocaust was I might be tempted to troll them.

The 10-15% who think the Jews caused the Holocaust are much more worrying, obviously.

I wonder for how many of these people the answer meant something like "the Jews brought it upon themselves" rather than actually thinking they operated freaking death camps. I remember having a conversation with a person believing in all seriousness the Nazis were "provoked" into this.

That's actually exactly what I'm worried about.

[MASHED POTATOES. VOTE!]

These 1% and 2% hot takes might be mostly people trolling the surveyor. I know if someone asked me in apparent seriousness what Hitler's role in the Holocaust was I might be tempted to troll them.

The 10-15% who think the Jews caused the Holocaust are much more worrying, obviously.

I wonder for how many of these people the answer meant something like "the Jews brought it upon themselves" rather than actually thinking they operated freaking death camps. I remember having a conversation with a person believing in all seriousness the Nazis were "provoked" into this.

That's actually exactly what I'm worried about.

Good thing it's still much more of a fringe view (or at least the one you wouldn't dare to express openly) than in regard to some other countries that never dealt properly with their own atrocities. Imagine a German Chancellor whitewashing Nazi policies like it's being done in Japan.

[GM Team Member and Senator WB]

Okay, and for the following list of names, please indicate if the individual was a
perpetrator of the Holocaust, a bystander during the Holocaust, or a victim of the
Holocaust:

Adolf Hitler

Perpetrator 95%
Bystander 2%
Victim 1%
not sure 2%

(...)

Anne Frank

Perpetrator 1%
Bystander 5%
Victim 80%
Not sure 14%

(...)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZIpFytCSVc

[Beezer]

I don't get how this is newsworthy to be honest. The study could just as well have been titled "Vast majority of people know about the Holocaust and that Hitler was behind it". I suppose that would not generate any headlines however...

[America Needs a 13-6 Progressive SCOTUS]

These 1% and 2% hot takes might be mostly people trolling the surveyor. I know if someone asked me in apparent seriousness what Hitler's role in the Holocaust was I might be tempted to troll them.

The 10-15% who think the Jews caused the Holocaust are much more worrying, obviously.

I wonder for how many of these people the answer meant something like "the Jews brought it upon themselves" rather than actually thinking they operated freaking death camps. I remember having a conversation with a person believing in all seriousness the Nazis were "provoked" into this.

That's actually exactly what I'm worried about.

Good thing it's still much more of a fringe view (or at least the one you wouldn't dare to express openly) than in regard to some other countries that never dealt properly with their own atrocities. Imagine a German Chancellor whitewashing Nazi policies like it's being done in Japan.

Also consider how the Turkish Government still refuses to acknowledge responsibility for the Armenian Genocide.