School teachers in Sweden display big inadequacies in their knowledge of Holocaust history, according to a study carried out by the country's ‘Living History Forum’ (LHF). Seven out of ten teachers failed a Holocaust history test set by the agency. The LHF is a Swedish government agency which has been charged with the task of promoting issues relating to tolerance, democracy and human rights – with the Holocaust as its point of reference.
5,081 teachers took part in the survey, but only two of them answered all the questions correctly. Only every 20th teacher was aware, for example, that between 81 and 100 per cent of all Jewish children in Europe were killed by the Nazis. However, 98 per cent of teachers considered Holocaust history lessons very important and four out of five teachers consider the Holocaust a great way to introduce students to ethical discussions. 90 per cent of teachers reported that their students were very interested in the subject and highly motivated.
