Since the current war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, there have been growing concerns about the rise of antisemitism in the United States and other Western nations. The past two months have seen a sharp uptick in incidents of violence against Jewish people--both in America and the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, if the findings of a recent survey are any indication, the problem is likely to get even worse.
An Economist/YouGov poll revealed that a significant percentage of younger Americans may hold some disturbingly antisemitic beliefs about the Holocaust and the Jewish people.
Young Americans—or at least the subset of them who take part in surveys—appear to be remarkably ignorant about one of modern history’s greatest crimes. Some 20% of respondents aged 18-29 think that the Holocaust is a myth, compared with 8% of those aged 30-44 (see chart). An additional 30% of young Americans said they do not know whether the Holocaust is a myth. Many respondents espouse the canard that Jews wield too much power in America: young people are nearly five times more likely to think this than are those aged 65 and older (28% versus 6%).
Even more telling is that 69 percent of respondents in this age range agree with the notion that “American Jews are more loyal to Israel than to America.” Another 20 percent believe that “Jews talk too much about the Holocaust.”
It is worth noting that the total number of adults surveyed was 1,500, and the report does not indicate how many of these fell into the 18 – 29 age range. This means that more research is likely needed to get a more accurate picture of attitudes among these Americans.
The obvious question is: What factors contribute to the prevalence of these views among younger Americans? The answer, as usual, is multifaceted.
For starters, social media plays an important role. The pollsters suggested that “social media might play a role” in promoting antisemitism among the younger crowd, members of which are often glued to their device screens. There have been several reports detailing how antisemitic thought has spread on the interwebs.
Scholar Sophie Schmalenberger found that antisemitism is expressed not just in blunt, hurtful language and images on social media, but also in coded forms that may easily remain undetected. For example, on Facebook, Germany’s radical right-wing party Alternative für Deutschland, or AfD, omits the mentioning of the Holocaust in posts about the Second World War. It also uses antisemitic language and rhetoric that present antisemitism as acceptable.
Antisemitism may take on subtle forms such as in emojis. The emoji combination of a star of David, a Jewish symbol, and a rat resembles the Nazi propaganda likening Jews to vermin. In Nazi Germany, the constant repetition and normalization of such depictions led to the dehumanization of Jews and eventually the acceptance of genocide.
The report does suggest that education may not play as big a factor in this trend as it might seem. “Perhaps surprisingly, education levels do not appear to be the culprit. In our poll, the proportion of respondents who believe that the Holocaust is a myth is similar across all levels of education,” the authors note.
However, given the state of America’s education system, it would not be unreasonable to suggest that inadequate teaching in K-12 classrooms is another culprit. Another survey conducted in 2020 showed that 63 percent of Gen Zers did not know that six million Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Even further, about 36 percent believed that “two million or fewer Jews” were killed during this time period. The survey also found that 48 percent of respondents could not name a single concentration camp in which Jews and other victims were imprisoned.
In light of this, it is impossible to deny the role that substandard education on the Holocaust and other matters pertaining to the Jewish people. Education and social media appear to be the most prevalent players in the rise of antisemitic thought among the younger generation.
