A new survey of Nevadans’ understanding of the Holocaust showed that only 35 percent of respondents could define antisemitism, more than a quarter could not identify the cause of the Holocaust and 8 percent who believed the Holocaust occurred also believed that the number of those killed was greatly exaggerated.

The opt-in poll, which surveyed more than 1,400 Nevada voters and has a margin of error of 2.6 percent, was conducted in March by Noble Predictive Insights. It was released Friday by the Nevada Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust, an advisory board created in 1989 to draw attention to the lessons learned from the Holocaust, antisemitism and genocide.

“When we say ‘never again,’ we have to mean that and we also have to remember what we are teaching and why,” Elliot Malin, chairman of the council, said in an interview with The Nevada Independent.

Malin said the results didn’t surprise him as much as he would have expected. According to Malin, the last time that there was a survey in Nevada regarding knowledge of the Holocaust was in 2020, and that the sample size of that survey was only around 200. 

One factor that Malin says may contribute to Nevadans’ lack of education regarding the Holocaust is that there are fewer survivors as time goes on, and that because of this, “a lot of those that are from the younger generations haven't had the opportunity to meet somebody who actually went through the Holocaust and to ask them questions and empathize with [them].”

A statement from survey sponsor Nevada Center for Humanity (NCH) said that the group “would like to see Holocaust education mandatory in Nevada, as it currently is in 26 other states in this country. The hope is that the Department of Education will heed this and take next steps to improve if and how we educate our students about antisemitism and genocide.”

Malin says that on social media, people often downplay the severity of the Holocaust or say that it never happened altogether. According to the poll, 60 percent of Nevadans between the ages of 18 to 34 say that they’ve seen jokes being made about the Holocaust online.

Out of all age groups surveyed, this younger age group reported seeing jokes online far more often than the next highest-reported age group — people ages 35 to 44. Forty percent of that group reported seeing Holocaust jokes online.

Stefanie Tuzman, president and CEO of Jewish Nevada, a survey sponsor, said that by understanding the gaps in knowledge about the Holocaust, the organization can tailor their educational efforts to better “address these deficiencies.”

She added that “when people understand the horrors of the Holocaust, they are more likely to stand against antisemitism and other forms of bigotry. They become advocates for tolerance, empathy, and human rights.”

In 2021, the council worked with the state Department of Education to create a subcommittee focused on assisting the department with teaching material related to the Holocaust and genocide studies. 

“What we know is that teachers don't have the resources and they don't have the time to go and find those resources for themselves. I think we need to do a better job of helping teachers understand the Holocaust and how to teach the Holocaust,” Malin added.

Something that Malin says is effective in Holocaust education is bringing people to the concentration camps.

“I know that's expensive, that's very hard. That's not necessarily something that's within our budget to do,” he said, but he wants teachers to be able to go to these camps to “have the firsthand experience.”

Malin says that in 2023, there was a 140 percent increase in antisemitic incidents and a 1,000 percent increase in bomb threats made against Jewish institutions nationwide.

Malin also noted that anti-Muslim incidents also increased at the end of last year and remains high as well. 

“We're here to teach about empathy and humanity and remind people that words have meaning. We as a state and we as a country have to do better,” he said.

This story was updated at 10:15 a.m. on 6/4/24 to correct the spelling of Stefanie Tuzman's name.