A survey of 10,000 West German teen-agers showed strong prejudices against Jews and Israel, stemming apparently from ignorance. According to Prof. Rainer Roth of Frankfurt University who conducted the research, their level of knowledge about Jews and Israel is “horrible.”
The survey was taken among students aged 13-16 in the areas of Stuttgart and Esslingen. It found that 7.4 percent believe reports that 5-6 million Jews died in the Holocaust are “highly exaggerated.”
Another 14.9 percent think it is not fair to remind Germans of Auschwitz because of the many outstanding scientific achievements of the German people. The statement that “Since other people were involved in mass annihilation, it is high time for us to stop talking about the killing of the Jews” was endorsed by 32.9 percent of the respondents. Roth termed some of the responses “dangerous.”
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