By contrast with German students, nine out of ten of whom “believe that Hitler had done more good than harm,” 75 percent of American students polled in a special survey know that persecution of Jews “was a salient feature of Nazi Germany,” Benjamin R. Epstein, national director of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, declared here today.
Mr. Epstein made that statement at the closing session of the ADL’s 47th annual meeting. He reported the opinions expressed by American high school students in response to an ADL survey conducted in 27 cities in 21 states. Of the students queried, he stated, 65 percent also believe that the idea of a “master race” was central to nazism, while 57 percent said the concentration camps were “a dominant characteristic of the Hitler state.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
