Only about half of Brazilians know about the Holocaust, including among the supportive evangelical Christian community, according to a survey released on Tuesday.
Some 53% of those polled correctly defined it as the systematic extermination of 6 million Jews by the Nazis, while more than half said that they did not know what or where Auschwitz was.
The results also show that historical knowledge about the Holocaust among the traditionally supportive evangelical community stands at just under 50%—lower than the national average—highlighting that political support does not translate into Holocaust education.
At the same time, nearly 65% of Brazilians believe it is mandatory to teach about the Holocaust in schools, even as almost 90% have never visited a museum or participated in an event about the Holocaust, the survey found.
“In a context characterized by a resurgence of antisemitism and the spread of hate speech, educational action becomes not only necessary but urgent,” said Hana Nussbaum, manager of education at StandWithUs Brazil.
The results of the survey, which was conducted by the ISOP Group on behalf of four Jewish organizations, were timed to coincide with the annual International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Jan. 27, the day the Auschwitz concentration camp was liberated in 1945.
The survey, which questioned 7,762 people last year, had a margin of error of 4.7%.
