"Shocking" interpretation of Holocaust survey is misleading

 You may have seen the alarming headlines recently:

"Almost two-thirds of millennials, Gen Z don't know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust, survey finds" (USA Today)

"Survey finds 'shocking' lack of Holocaust knowledge among millennials and Gen Z" (NBC News)

"Nearly two-thirds of US young adults unaware 6m Jews killed in the Holocaust" (The Guardian)

The suggestion that two-thirds of young Americans are "unaware" of the Holocaust would be shocking — if it were true. But a closer look at the survey results shows these reports to be extremely misleading and, in some ways, flat inaccurate.

The survey, sponsored by the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany, asked 1,000 Americans ages 18 to 39 a series of questions about the Holocaust. In announcing the survey results, the organization not only described them as "shocking," but also as "disturbing" (four times) and "disquieting."

But an examination of the actual survey questions and responses shows a much more nuanced picture than the alarmist adjectives suggest.

Let's start with the sponsors' main assertion: "63 percent of all national survey respondents do not know that six million Jews were murdered." 

The study asked "Approximately how many Jews were killed during the Holocaust?" and gave six possible numerical answers, from 25,000 to 20 million, to choose from. Thirty-seven percent said "6 million," an estimate that most historians agree is close to accurate. Another 17% said "Don't know," while the rest gave other numerical answers.

Just because most respondents didn't say "6 million" hardly means they are unaware of the Holocaust or dismiss its importance. They just didn't have that particular number memorized.  If you asked any group how many people died in the Vietnam War, or the Civil War, or 9/11, you'd get a bunch of answers all over the board, most of them wrong. Still, nearly everyone would acknowledge that those were hugely important events. 

Not only is it misleading to say that 63% don't know that 6 million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.  , the survey itself shows it to be untrue. A total of 37% of respondents said 6 million died, and another 10% said 20 million died. Put those together and you find that 47% said that at least 6 million people died in the Holocaust. It was 53%, not two-thirds, of respondents who gave answers lower than 6 million or said "Don't know."

A separate question on the survey shows 8% of respondents were "not sure" the Holocaust happened and 3% consider it a myth. While those two numbers can certainly be disturbing, the results show that 89% of respondents are aware of the Holocaust and don't doubt that it happened, far more than the one-third suggested by the study sponsors. 

It's troubling how so many news outlets blindly accepted the interpretation of the results from its sponsor,  the Conference on Material Claims Against Germany. In judging the credibility of any study, one of the first things to look at is: Who paid for it and what is their agenda?

A study that says meat is great for you wouldn't get much traction if it was funded by the cattle industry. A survey that concluded people oppose gun control would be laughed at if it was paid for by the National Rifle Associaton.

The Conference on Material Claims Against Germany is an organization that continues to seek financial compensation from Germany for survivors of the Holocaust. It is in the group's interest to maintain a high level of public outrage over Holocaust. Alarmist announcements, even if not supported by the facts, serve this purpose. 

Some of the group's recent survey headlines have been:

• "Stunning Survey of French Adults Reveals Critical Gaps in Holocaust Knowledge"
• "New Survey by the Claims Conference Finds Critical Gaps in Holocaust Knowledge in Austria"
• "New Survey by Claims Conference Finds Significant Lack of Holocaust Knowledge in the United States"

When a group has such a clear agenda, journalists need to approach with caution.

Book review: "Brainiac" by Ken Jennings

It's just not fair. Not only did Ken Jennings win 74 straight games on "Jeopardy," bringing home millions of dollars from those shows and subsequent tournaments, but in his 2006 book "Brainiac," he proves to be a deft writer and a darn capable reporter. Sure, you want to hate him, but the self-effacing tone of the book reinforces what he's shown on TV: He's a really likable guy.

Like I said, It's just not fair. 

In "Brainiac," Jennings weaves together two storylines. In one, he gives the back story on his record-breaking 2004 run on "Jeopardy," taking us from his initial tryout all the way through to his defeat in game number 75. I'm a big "Jeopardy" fan, so I found this behind-the-scenes view fascinating.

One of the biggest challenges Jennings faced during his run was keeping it a secret. He was contractually forbidden from telling anyone the results of his shows — which didn't air for months after the tapings — so he had to invent excuses to explain his frequent absences from work and didn't tell his dad why he kept borrowing suits. 

"I start to feel a little like Clark Kent at the Daily Planet, keeping up bland appearances to all his friends, who of course have no idea about bullet-stopping adventures in his double life," he writes.

Intertwined with Jennings' personal "Jeopardy" story is a parallel look at, as the book's subtitle says, the "Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs." I can't say I liked this second storyline as much as the first, but it's still pretty good. 

Jennings delves deep into the history of trivia, and traces the development of general knowledge quizzes back to an 1830 book called "A Million of Facts." He described the emergence of quiz shows in the 20th century, first on radio, and then TV. He wonders whether trivia contests measure intelligence or only offer "the illusion of real intellectual mastery."

Jennings proves to be a solid writer, but what impressed me more is that he was willing to put on a journalist's hat and buzz around the country talking to people who have made trivia a big part of their lives. He visits a college quiz bowl team in Minnesota, a freelance trivia writer in California, a college student in Louisiana who talks about gender imbalance in trivia competitions, and the "World's Largest Trivia Contest" in Wisconsin. He's not above having some fun along the way: In Massachusetts, he puts on a modest disguise and helps a bar trivia team win a match.

The research brings him something of an epiphany: "It's rewarding to know a lot of great facts, but that knowledge is almost pointless if those facts don't help you get to know a lot of great people as well."

Many might think of Ken Jennings as the ultimate nerd, but when you see some of the people he interviews —  people whose bookshelves groan under the weight of binders and folders filled with obscure bits of information — you realize there's a whole another world out there. 

Helping make the book fun is that Jennings plants 10 trivia questions cleverly in the text of each chapter. As a little bonus, he sneaks in an interesting note at the very back of the book that describes the font used in the book. 

In the end, Jennings comes away with a renewed belief that trivia can be a valuable educational building block.

"Trivia can serve as a gateway drug to more substantive learning," he writes. "Life is full of subjects too intimidating to dive into headlong, from quantum physics to Russian cinema. But trivia can provide an easy, intriguing introduction to any topic you feared might bore you silly."