The concerning level of Holocaust denialism among young Irish people is “rooted in antisemtisim”, Ciara Kelly has said. 

Ahead of Holocaust Memorial Day, the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims against Germany conducted a poll of over 1,000 Irish people, questioning them about their knowledge of the 20th century’s most notorious genocide. 

One in 10 of those 18 to 29 believed the Holocaust was all a “myth”, while a further 19% within the same age bracket thought it was “greatly exaggerated”. 

Half the Irish population did not know that six million Jews had been murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. 

On Newstalk Breakfast, presenter Ciara Kelly said the findings were deeply concerning. 

 “It is quite shocking and it's deeply worrying because I do believe - and I'm not the only person to believe this - but if you don't remember your history, you're condemned to repeat it,” she said.

“But I think it's a very valid point and I wonder where it's coming from, this level of ignorance, this level of, is it willful ignorance?

“The fact that people are saying it's a myth, I think that smacks of antisemitism, that they've been told it's a myth. 

“And it worries me because this isn't even that long ago.” 

Michael D. Higgins meets with Holocaust survivors Walter Sekules, Suzi Diamond and Tomi Reichenthal at a National Holocaust Memorial Day Commemoration event in Dublin's Mansion House. Picture by: Alamy.com.

Ciara especially took issue with those who believed the Holocaust to be a ‘myth’. 

“A myth sounds to me like people are rubbishing it,” she said. 

“And to me, a myth in that sense, I think there are people who would like it to be considered a myth. 

“And I think that is rooted in antisemitism… I genuinely believe there is antisemitism everywhere.” 

Warsaw Jews are held at gunpoint by Nazi troops. Picture by: World History Archive / Alamy.

Fellow presenter Shane Coleman said he thought the results of the poll reflected a general ignorance of history, rather than antisemitism. 

“If you go back through history, there'll be probably one in eight of people throughout history who weren't aware of some big event,” he said. 

“And I am kind of persuaded by that - but I do think something has changed.; there's certainly a high percentage of people intentionally avoiding news.

“But there's also, I think this is key, there is a decline in authoritative news sources.”

Under the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s definition of anti-semtisim, “Denying the fact, scope, mechanisms or intentionality of the genocide of the Jewish people at the hands of National Socialist Germany and its supporters and accomplices during World War II” is considered anit-semtitic. 

The definition was endorsed by the Irish Government last year, with Micheál Martin noting that Ireland was “committed to countering the scourge of racism and hatred”. 

Main image: A split of Ciara Kelly and Auschwitz concentration camp. Pictures by: Newstalk and Alamy.com.