Surveys: Holocaust Awareness
ADL Audit of Anti-Semitic Incidents, 2018
On April 30, 2019 the ADL released its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents. On April 30, 2019 the ADL released its annual Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents. This year's audit recorded a total of 1,879 attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country in 2018, the third-highest year on record since ADL started tracking such data in the 1970s.
The ADL Audit classifies all documented incidents into three categories: assault, harassment and vandalism. Reflected in the Washington D.C. regional data (which includes Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and Washington, DC) is a significant shift away from acts of vandalism towards incidents of harassment and assault, including the first recorded/documented assaults motivated by anti-Semitism in the region in recent years.
State-by-state breakdown for our region:
| State | Total | Assault | Harassment | Vandalism |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Maryland | 39 | 1 | 32 | 6 |
| North Carolina | 34 | 1 | 24 | 9 |
| Virginia | 31 | 0 | 20 | 11 |
| Washington, DC | 31 | 0 | 28 | 3 |
Maryland: 39 total incidents — an 11% increase from 2017, when there were 35 total incidents
North Carolina: 34 total incidents — a 113% increase from 2017, when there were 16 total incidents
Virginia: 31 total incidents — a 9% decrease from 2017, when there were 34 total incidents
Washington, DC: 31 total incidents — a 3% decrease from 2017, when there were 32 total incidents
"We are deeply concerned by the interpersonal nature of the anti-Semitic incidents in our region, whether perpetrated by classmates, neighbors, or strangers, we cannot allow this bigotry to be normalized in our communities. Our programs and efforts with community partners, local schools and universities, and law enforcement are a vital first step to confronting the challenges of anti-Semitism and all forms of hate."
— Doron F. Ezickson, ADL Washington D.C. Regional Director
In a year marked by the white supremacist shooting spree at a Pittsburgh synagogue, which claimed 11 lives, and punctuated by a dramatic surge in white supremacist propaganda activity nationwide, ADL's Audit identified 59 people across the country who were victims of anti-Semitic assaults in 2018, up from 21 in 2017. While the overall number of incidents represents a 5 percent decline from 1,986 incidents reported in 2017, the number of incidents last year remained at near-historic levels — 48 percent higher than the total for 2016 and 99 percent higher than in 2015.
"We've worked hard to push back against anti-Semitism, and succeeded in improving hate crime laws, and yet we continue to experience an alarmingly high number of anti-Semitic acts. We unfortunately saw this trend continue into 2019 with the tragic shooting at the Chabad synagogue in Poway. It's clear we must remain vigilant in working to counter the threat of violent anti-Semitism and denounce it in all forms, wherever the source and regardless of the political affiliation of its proponents."
— Jonathan Greenblatt, ADL CEO and National Director
Anti-Semitic Incidents Remained at Near-Historic Levels in 2018; Assaults Against Jews More Than Double
Assaults: 39 — marking an increase of 105 percent from the 19 incidents reported in 2017. Those incidents affected 59 victims, up from 21 in 2017, and including the 11 fatalities and two injured congregants in Pittsburgh.
Harassment: 1066 incidents of anti-Semitic harassment were reported to ADL last year, a 5 percent increase from 1,015 in 2017, and a 48 percent increase from 721 in 2016.
Vandalism: 774 incidents of anti-Semitic vandalism were recorded in 2018, down 19 percent from 952 in 2017, but up 52 percent from 510 in 2016.
First-Ever 50-State Survey on Holocaust Knowledge of American Millennials and Gen Z
Disturbing Findings Reveal Significant Number of Millennials and Gen Z Can't Name A Single Concentration Camp Or Ghetto, Believe That Two Million Or Fewer Jews Were Killed And A Concerning Percentage Believe That Jews Caused The Holocaust
On September 16, 2020 Gideon Taylor, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference), announced the release of the U.S. Millennial Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness Survey, the first-ever 50-state survey on Holocaust knowledge among Millennials and Gen Z. The surprising state-by-state results highlight a worrying lack of basic Holocaust knowledge, a growing problem as fewer and fewer Holocaust survivors — eyewitnesses to a state-sponsored genocide — are alive to share the lessons of the Holocaust.
- •63 percent of all national survey respondents do not know that six million Jews were murdered and 36 percent thought that 'two million or fewer Jews' were killed during the Holocaust.
- •Although there were more than 40,000 camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, 48 percent of national survey respondents cannot name a single one.
- •Nearly 20 percent of Millennials and Gen Z in New York feel the Jews caused the Holocaust.
"The results are both shocking and saddening and they underscore why we must act now while Holocaust survivors are still with us to voice their stories. We need to understand why we aren't doing better in educating a younger generation about the Holocaust and the lessons of the past. This needs to serve as a wake-up call to us all, and as a road map of where government officials need to act."
— Gideon Taylor, President of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany
Click here to read more about results of the full survey.
To learn more about North Carolina survey results specifically, please visit: http://www.claimscon.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Millennial-Holocaust-Survey-NORTH-CAROLINA-TOPLINE-8.11.20.pdf