New survey finds only half of Brazilians are aware of the Holocaust

Only 53.2% of Brazilians are aware of the Holocaust, in which six million Jews were murdered, according to a new survey published on Tuesday, International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

The poll, conducted by the ISPO Group of Rio Grande do Sul, was conducted on behalf of the Israelite Confederation of Brazil, the Holocaust Memorial of São Paulo, the Holocaust Museum of Curitiba, and StandWithUs Brazil.

Brazil is the largest country in South America, with a population of over 200 million people and is also home to a Jewish community of around 100,000 people.

The survey was conducted in April, September, and October 2025, comprising 7,762 face-to-face interviews across 11 metropolitan regions in Brazil. It found that a slight majority of Brazilians have only a superficial understanding of the Holocaust, with knowledge particularly low among people with lower education and socio-economic status.

Overall, only 38.5% of respondents knew that Auschwitz-Birkenau was an extermination camp, while more than half were not familiar with the infamous Nazi camp in Poland, where over one million people were murdered – the vast majority of them Jews.

Hana Nusbaum, education manager for StandWithUs Brazil and the Holocaust Education and Memory Center, expressed concern about the lack of knowledge about the Holocaust amid the global rise in antisemitism. 

“In a context marked by a resurgence of antisemitism and the spread of hate speech, educational action is not only necessary but urgent,” Nusbaum stated.

“Holocaust education plays a vital role because of its historical, ethical and human dimensions, and its ability to illuminate the dangers of intolerance and indifference,” she said.

The survey revealed surprisingly low knowledge about the Holocaust among Brazilian Evangelicals, who tend to support the Jewish state. Less than half (49.2%) of respondents reported knowledge of the Holocaust, slightly below the national average.

On the positive side, about 64% of respondents said they support making Holocaust education mandatory in Brazilian schools. Almost nine in 10 Brazilians (88.3%) reported that they have never visited a Holocaust museum or participated in a Holocaust-related educational event.

Because of their age, the number of Holocaust survivors has declined to roughly 196,000 worldwide, spread across 90 countries. About half of them currently reside in Israel, while 16% live in the United States, 17% in Western Europe, and the remainder mostly live in Canada, Australia, Mexico and Argentina.

According to a report published in April 2025, roughly 70% of the Jewish Holocaust survivors alive today are expected to pass away within the next 10 years.

Gideon Taylor, head of the Claims Conference, which published the survey results, emphasized the urgent need for Holocaust education worldwide.

“Now is the time to hear first-hand testimonies from survivors, invite them to speak in our classrooms, places of worship and institutions. It is critical, not only for our youth but for people of all generations to hear and learn directly from Holocaust survivors. This report is a stark reminder that our time is almost up, our survivors are leaving us and this is the moment to hear their voices."