While the Holocaust continues to resonate and influence daily life in their country, more than four in five Israeli Jews believe it will eventually fade from memory,
according to a new poll.
The poll, conducted by the
Center of Organizations of Holocaust Survivors in advance of Holocaust Remembrance Day (April 16), surveyed 500 Jewish Israelis in an effort to gauge current Israeli attitudes.
Asked whether the Holocaust will fade into history as "just another event," 36.6 percent of respondents said it was certain to happen, and 45 percent said it may happen.
Just 17.5 percent said that such a development would not take place.
Asked if the Holocaust influences everyday decision-making in the private and public spheres in Israel, 42.2 percent said it did, 10.1 percent said it had personal resonance only, and 26.9 percent responded that it only dictates national policy.
Only 15.5 percent of respondents said the memory of
Hitler's Final Solution has no influence.
Responses varied significantly by age,
Arutz Sheva reported, with 30 percent of respondents age 55 and over expressing the belief that that the Holocaust will always be viewed with great significance. By comparison, just 11.5 percent of respondents ages 18 to 34 and 17.4 percent of adults aged 35 to 54 took that position.
Interestingly, Colette Avital, chairwoman of the survivors organization which conducted the poll, said the findings indicate a worrisome trend in which the lessons of World War II will hold little significance for future generations.
Avital said the poll findings should spur a rethinking of the role of Holocaust education in the Jewish state.
"It's hard to think what would happen when the last [remaining] Holocaust survivors will no longer be with us,"
said Avital, a former Israeli diplomat and Labor Party member of the Knesset.
"This data should worry the country's leaders and all those who [believe in] the continuity of Jewish history," she added.
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