‘Disconnect to history’: El Paso museum director reacts to survey showing young Americans know little about the Holocaust

EL PASO, Texas -- A disturbingly large number of young Americans don't know the basic, yet horrific, details of the Holocaust.

The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany conducted the study.

It's the first-ever 50-state survey on Holocaust knowledge of Millennials and Generation z.

Here are some of the results, which were released on Wednesday:

• 63 percent didn't know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust
• 48 percent couldn't name a single concentration camp, even Auschwitz -- the largest and most documented camp. There were 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos across Europe during World War II
• 11 percent of respondents believe Jews caused the Holocaust

"One reason is that there is a disconnect to Holocaust history," said Jamie Flores. Flores serves as the executive director of the El Paso Holocaust Museum and Study Center. "Many young people are far removed from the history of the Holocaust. They may not be directly related or attached to that history; they may have never met a holocaust survivor or witness; the number of survivors is greatly diminishing every single day."

Flores also said she was disturbed by the large number of respondents -- 49 percent -- who said they've seen Holocaust denial on social media. And nearly a third -- 30 percent -- have seen Nazi symbols on their social media feeds.

"Speaking as a millennial, if we do not take a stance for standing up for what's right, if we don't learn from history and see the dangers of hate and connections to anti-Semitism, to racism, to other forms of discrimination today, then we are setting ourselves up to continue to repeat," Flores said.

A total of 11,000 participated; nationwide, 1,000 people were surveyed, plus another 200 people were interviewed over the phone in each of the 50 states.

Earlier this year, Pew Research Center dubbed millennials as the largest population in the US. The age group consists of more than 72 million people.

The center did not provide a similar number for Generation Z. But Pew noted 24 million would be of voting age this November.

That means the survey included less than 0.01 percent of the population.

Flores said Texas law mandates Holocaust education. But she fears resources, tools and training for teachers to prepare them to tackle such a difficult topic are lacking.

"As a Holocaust educator, my impression (of the survey results) is we we have a lot of work to do. Clearly, something is not happening and there is a disconnect," she said. "We as Holocaust educators and museums need to address it."

The Holocaust Museum near Downtown El Paso is temporarily closed because of the pandemic.

But Flores urges people to follow the museum on social media and sign up for virtual programs on the website.