BBC poll: Nearly half of Britons never heard of Auschwitz

Discussion in 'Politics & Current Events' started by BenReilly, Dec 3, 2004.

  1. Daniel from Montréal

    Aug 4, 2000
    Montréal
    Club:
    Montreal Impact
    Nat'l Team:
    Canada
    Pretty sure that George had an Italian father and a Jewish mother (although I don't think Estelle is a Jewish first name). The central character and his family is Jewish and there are definite elements incorporated into many episodes.
     
  2. DJPoopypants

    DJPoopypants New Member

    yeah, but c'mon, Adam Sandler's hanukkah song (v1&2)? How can you argue about that? Anyway, I never quite put that all together - funny that jews can be PM but not catholics...

    I never was a big fan, so don't know the details, but every main character - Jerry, Elaine, George, Kramer, the mail-guy - well, they didn't seem out of place at a bris - but yeah, jewishnes was not a direct storyline, just more of a constant impression.

    - quite possible - 3 grade schools went into one high school, and one of the "other" towns was at least 75% jewish, so perhaps I saw more jews than most people in america. Life is Beautiful, Schindler's list - both were exceptional.
     
  3. Dr. Wankler

    Dr. Wankler Member+

    May 2, 2001
    The Electric City
    Club:
    Chicago Fire
    "The historical memory {is} no longer alive. The destruction of the past, or rather, the social mechanisms that link one's contemporary experiences to that of earlier generations, is one of the most characteristic and eerie phenomena of the late twentieth century. Most young men and women at century's end grow up in a sort of permanent present lacking any organic relation to the public past of the times they live in. . . ."

    Historian Eric Hobsbawm, The Age of Extremes: A History of the World, 1914-1991, p.3.
     
  4. churchill2000

    churchill2000 3x MLS Cup Champions

    Jul 12, 2004
    Monde Virtuel
    Club:
    Los Angeles Galaxy

    Actually you aren't far from the truth, I have some "friends" who live in our near Russia, most glorify Stalin and his "cause", and some still deny Krushchev's Secrect Speech, i.e. He stated how bad Stalin really was.

    But you must recall, that during the Bolsheviks time, and through Krushchev, media and the likes were censored to make the Gov't look good.

    Back to the topic, it sadly doesn't surprise me at all, this coming from somebody who not only admires England but Winston Churchill.

    Churchill once said that People were not aware of how near the dangers of a world explosion were, and most prefer to not hear it because it conflicts with their "tranquil" lives.
     
  5. Prenn

    Prenn Member

    Apr 14, 2000
    Ireland
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Do I really need to mention that England and Britain are not the same thing?

    :mad:
     
  6. Prenn

    Prenn Member

    Apr 14, 2000
    Ireland
    Club:
    Bolton Wanderers FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    FWIW I put most of it down to lack of education. 20th century history was not covered past WWI when I was at school.

    Also when I first read this I thought that it's got to be wrong but then I had thought about all the scum that lived round here and thought it could be quite accurate.

    Then I read the bit about it being a postal survey... scum wouldn't reply to a postal survey.

    Something was definately done wrong somewhere along the line.
     
  7. Rick B

    Rick B Member

    Aug 26, 2003
    Harare, Zimbabwe
    Club:
    Arsenal FC
    Nat'l Team:
    Zimbabwe

    LOL,

    I didn't even bother starting with that!!
     
  8. 96Squig

    96Squig Member

    Feb 4, 2004
    Hanover
    Club:
    Hannover 96
    Nat'l Team:
    Netherlands
    Actually i agree on most parts of your post, but at least in my history book it is well explained and at least a quarter of Germany's population should know this...

    And yes, Germany and Britain did not have any big problems with each other pre WW 1, and that conflict came from germany trying to be as Britain and building a biiiig fleet...
    Anyways, germany was like 45 years old when WW1 started, and before that there were many inner-German conflicts, so England got along well with many German countries (Hannover, Hesse) but also had troubles at some point of time (Prussia, ...). But the Germans were as far as I know pre industrialization very popular in England compared to the French for example.
     
  9. Rocket

    Rocket Member

    Aug 29, 1999
    Chicago
    Club:
    Everton FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Exactly.

    Auschwitz was one of many death camps; how many would recognize "Treblinka" or "Belzec", I wonder.
     
  10. RichardL

    RichardL BigSoccer Supporter

    May 2, 2001
    Berkshire
    Club:
    Reading FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I have to say, I'd love to know what the actual question was that was asked and how the answers were collated. I mean, for something to be completely unknown to half of the population it'd need to be pretty obscure at the best of times to most of the rest of the population as well.
    While Auschwitz is not exactly an everyday topic of conversation, I'm sure I've heard it mentioned enough times to notice that not a single person has ever had a blank or puzzled look on their face, and had to have someone explain what Auschwitz was to them. Who knows, maybe they were just asked to name some concentration camps and only 55% put Auschwitz down. That isn't the same as saying they've never heard of it.

    As the main result of this poll has been to generate a lot of publicity for this program, I'd suspect that was the reason for the poll in the first place.
     
  11. russ

    russ Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Canton,NY
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Just throwing that little factoid out there again-thanks andy.

    Very few people take as much interest in historical events as they should,largely because history of the past 100 years is taught in the most sanitized version possible.

    Another thought-I remember being taught as a boy that the Germans were a basically good people,not anti-Semitic at all,who were merly deceived by an evil man.It took me several years to come to the conclusion that the truth was a bit more complex than that,that maybe,there were a lot fewer "good Germans" than we may have thought,but we had to pretend otherwise to fight the Cold War.

    But do we want Johnny and Susie -or even Jordan and Heather - to know all that?
     
  12. dearprudence

    dearprudence Member

    Nov 1, 2000
    Chi-town
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    The Doctor is a wise man.

    Being in geriatrics, I've known more than my share of Holocaust survivors. Most are from Auschwitz because at least you had a chance to survive it. Most of the concentration camps were simply death camps. The big why it's important is a quote that I'm going to mess up right now: Those who do not remember their history are condemned to repeat it.

    I see that Auschwitz is to the Holocaust as Gettysburg is to the Civil War - the place most likely to be remembered.
     
  13. Naughtius Maximus

    Jul 10, 2001
    Shropshire
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    Well, I didn't say it... it was a Daily Mirror survey done at the time of the 60th anniversary of D-Day I believe. I can't say I'm particularly surprised at that one to be honest... after all, we're talking about people unde the age of 25 here.

    Are you implying it's incorrect?
     
  14. Naughtius Maximus

    Jul 10, 2001
    Shropshire
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    I've just tried googling

    'news.bbc.co.uk survey Auschwitz'

    and it comes up with no link to any BBC story detailing this survey at all. Very strange.
     
  15. johan neeskens

    Jan 14, 2004
    What scares me is that without proper education, children get this romanticised version of history where good always overcomes evil, and where bad is very very bad and good is very very good like in some cheap western. That to me explains while people fall for Bushist comments like 'if you're not with us you're against us'. If the holocaust in general and Auschwitz in particular teaches us anything it's what humans are capable and incapable of in extreme situations. To me it is totally wrong and in fact dangerous to depict someone like Hitler as an evil monster. Truth is he was human. Books like Primo Levi's, and the story of Oscar Schindler show that in extreme situations, people who in times of peace and welfare were considered good could turn into bad and vice versa.

    My history teacher (who in WWII was in a Japanese camp in Indonesia) in secondary school brilliantly taught us about the war. Before making us read books about it he asked us what we thought caused the war. After that he dissected the reasons we gave one by one.
     
  16. BenReilly

    BenReilly New Member

    Apr 8, 2002
  17. russ

    russ Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Canton,NY
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    No,not at all.Sorry if it came out otherwise.A US poll would be similar I believe.

    Remember,one of the most popular songs after 9-11 over here had the line "I don't know the difference between Iraq and Iran."

    Hell,look at this board - some of us still don't know...
     
  18. BenReilly

    BenReilly New Member

    Apr 8, 2002
    What scares me even more is moral relativism.
     
  19. johan neeskens

    Jan 14, 2004
    I'm not sure what you mean by that in this context.
     
  20. Naughtius Maximus

    Jul 10, 2001
    Shropshire
    Club:
    Chelsea FC
    Nat'l Team:
    England
    There's nothing wrong with moral relativism... properly applied.
     
  21. russ

    russ Member+

    Feb 26, 1999
    Canton,NY
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States

    What did he think caused WWII?
     
  22. argentine soccer fan

    Staff Member

    Jan 18, 2001
    San Francisco Bay Area
    Club:
    CA Boca Juniors
    Nat'l Team:
    Argentina
    On related news, when asked if he'd ever heard of Auschwitz, President Bush replied: 'Sure I know him. He's always popping by. Big ears...friend of Dick ...I think I made him secretary of something.'

    :D
     
  23. Coach_McGuirk

    Coach_McGuirk New Member

    Apr 30, 2002
    Between the Pipes
    If he said anything other than "We screwed up by trusting Hitler" then I call shennannigans.
     
  24. johan neeskens

    Jan 14, 2004
    A combination of factors: unresolved WWI business, deep frustration over the WWI outcome in Germany, economic crisis, incapable political leaders, new technology.
     
  25. johan neeskens

    Jan 14, 2004
    So you think that if no-one had trusted Hitler there'd have been no war. Don't get me wrong, world leaders obviously screwed up in the 30s, but I don't think their mistrust would have prevented the war.
     

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