1 IN 6 KIDS THINK AUSCHWITZ WAS WAR THEME PARK - mirror.co.uk A shocking one in six pupils think Auschwitz was a Second World War amusement park - while others think Adolf Hitler coached Germany's football team. Disturbingly, 12% believe McDonald's Golden Arches are a symbol for Remembrance Day and 40% asked were unaware that it falls on November 11. The astonishing results also show one in 20 thought the Holocaust, in which Hitler ordered the slaughter of millions of Jews at camps such as Auschwitz, was the end-of-war celebration. And more than one in 20 thought the Nazi leader was a football manager. Jon Benjamin, of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, said: "The lack of knowledge is shocking. "Our children should know basic facts on the war and, with a strengthening in support for extremist ideologies today, they should be aware of where unchecked hatred can lead to." Major Jim Panton, of veterans' charity Erskine, said: "Some answers shocked us. As we approach Remembrance Day, it's hard to believe 40% do not know when it is." Its poll of 2,000 pupils aged nine to 15 on the World Wars showed 25% did not think about the fallen but half knew of a local war memorial. A quarter thought D-Day was "Dooms Day" and that a nuclear bomb was dropped on Pearl Harbour. One in 10 thought the SS, Hitler's bodyguards, was Enid Blyton's Secret Seven. One in 12 said the Blitz was a post-war clean-up.
Was chatting about this at work yesterday, it's written in a negative way. I think that 5 out 6 KNEW what it was is something to be pleased about. After all they are only kids. Read it again, 19 out of 20 knew who Hitler was. You're always going to have kids & adults who know nothing.
I can't see much of a story there either, other than a charity needing to find some sort of angle to promote the poll's results. Understandable when any publicity is better than none and you've a good cause to promote. Erskine - Caring for ex-Service men and women 2000 kids between 9 & 15 surveyed, results didn't seem bad to me at all if you focus on the bulk of the answers, and consider the age that kids generally start learning about the holocaust. Never believing a word written in the media, thought I'd check for more - The full survey results below (small .pdfs) : Survey results by region Full survey results
Even question 11 has an incorrect correct answer. How did Japan attack Pearl Harbour? Correct answer is: 'suicide bombing using planes'. mmmmmm
Looking at one question: What was the Holocaust? The celebration at the end of war 6.24% The attempted genocide of the Jews 85.39% A computer game recreating the war 4.01% A famous graveyard dedicated to dead soldiers 4.36% Results in actual number of kids (to nearest whole number). The celebration at the end of war c.125 kids ('wild stab in the dark' answer? ) The attempted genocide of the Jews c.1708 kids (well done, somebody's been paying attention.) A computer game recreating the war c.80 kids (muppets... and stabbing in the dark...) A famous graveyard dedicated to dead soldiers c.87 kids (not bad for a stab in the dark...) Taking into account thickies, bored random answers, and those just mucking around (they are, after all, 9-15 year olds ), that doesn't seem bad at all. If it was presented as "85% of 9-15 year olds surveyed know what the holocaust is" I'd think that was a cause for some pride in the British sprog's awareness of the whole grim business. But you'd never persuade the outrage-hungry rags to run the story . ~A
Look at where Peter got his link from. The bloody Mirrror. The paper that slagged off the British Army with those fake abuse photos. Sez it all for me.
I think awareness of any part of ww2 is down to three things firstly as in my case, learning from your relatives my Dad served in Burma and had a brief involment with the Paras prior to that, and my Mum lived through the Blitz, second wanting to learn after all if my Dad had been killed in Burma, or my Mum had a bomb drop on her house I would not be here! so for me I wanted to know more and it snowballed from there, and finally education do we as parents tell are children what Grandad etc did in the war............or do we rely on the rather poor subject covering that the schools give after all things could of been so different had old Adolf crossed the channel
I strongly suspect that many of the kids who gave the 'dumb Britain' answers were taking the mickey. I had an old Statistics lecturer who claimed that in any public opinion poll or market research questionnnaire he was confronted with, he deliberately gave an answer which was the opposite of what he actually thought. These vox pop polls are often conducted completely unscientifically by people who don't really know what they are doing. As I've pointed out on various similar threads over the years, schoolchildren are actually taught far more about the two World Wars these days than I was in the 'golden age' of the 11-Plus, state grammar schools and hard exams. In fact, I was never formally taught anything about the events of either world war or the Holocaust in a History lesson, up to and including taking a History degree at Cambridge (I did study the causes of the two World Wars there, to be fair). My entire knowledge of World War II was based on my dad's reminiscences, war films, comics and later a few serious books. Nowadays the same newspapers which have carried this story are wont to moan that all kids today study in school is Hitler! Whether some kids actually take anything in about the History they are taught, and whether we should be happy that the majority of pupils drop History (along with other academic subjects) at 14 is another matter...
