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Dutch survey: 10% of history teachers have Holocaust-denying students

That percentage climbed to 25% in classes with at least a quarter of immigrant students.

Jewish Children’s Monument, with names of 400 Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust, at the site of a former Jewish school in The Hague. Photo by Menachem Wecker.
Jewish Children’s Monument, with names of 400 Jewish children murdered during the Holocaust, at the site of a former Jewish school in The Hague. Photo by Menachem Wecker.

The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam, which is nearly 65 years old, is consistently one of the most visited museums in the Netherlands. Yet public-school teachers report an alarming rate of Holocaust denial among Dutch students.

Of 400 surveyed teachers, almost 10% overall and 25% of those with classes that had more than a quarter of immigrant students told the Dutch daily Nederlands Dagblad that they have encountered students who deny that the Holocaust took place.

One teacher told the paper that students tell him that the Holocaust “is used to justify the state of Israel’s attitude toward Palestine.” Another teacher said that students “always come round” when they learn stories from survivors or see photos from World War II and the Holocaust.

The 10% of teachers who regularly teach about the subject only reported a rate of student Holocaust denial of 1%.

Many Holocaust memorials have been erected in the Netherlands, particularly in Amsterdam and The Hague.

“This political environment could discourage congressional committee staff and federal agency personnel from pursuing investigations or enforcement actions involving antisemitism,” Karen Paikin Barall of the Brandeis Center told JNS.
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