The Holocaust Knowledge Gap w/ The History Underground
Feb 23, 2024
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Exploring the shocking Holocaust knowledge gap, the podcast dives into the rising denial and ignorance surrounding this tragic event, prompting a discussion on the importance of education. Delving into controversial topics like antisemitism and content suppression on YouTube, the hosts address the challenges faced in teaching and remembering the atrocities of history. They also highlight the power of visual media in Holocaust education and the need to combat denial with accurate information, emphasizing the significance of remembrance and meaningful conversations.
The Holocaust's knowledge gap is exacerbated by social media censorship and platform limitations on historical content dissemination.
Suppressing Holocaust-related content may inadvertently pique curiosity and attract individuals to forbidden topics, hindering broader understanding.
Content moderation algorithms on social media platforms can unintentionally suppress crucial historical knowledge, leading to misconceptions and limited awareness of significant events.
Deep dives
Challenges in Education and Historical Suppression
There are significant challenges in educating about historical events like the Holocaust, as demonstrated by the lack of exposure in the culture. Social media platforms, like YouTube and Facebook, contribute to the suppression of Holocaust-related content through demonetization, age restrictions, and bans. This limits the visibility and accessibility of crucial historical information, creating a barrier to learning and understanding important events.
Impact of Taboos and Censorship
The taboo surrounding the Holocaust and Nazi history, coupled with censorship on social media platforms, may inadvertently increase interest in suppressed topics. Making historical events forbidden or taboo can sometimes foster curiosity and attract individuals who are restricted from accessing such information. The suppression of Holocaust-related content can hinder broader understanding and awareness of this significant historical period.
Algorithmic Content Moderation and Historical Representation
Content moderation algorithms on platforms like YouTube and Facebook play a significant role in determining what historical content is visible to audiences. The algorithmic processes aimed at protecting viewers can sometimes result in unintended consequences, such as suppressing educational content related to sensitive historical events. This can impact the dissemination of crucial historical knowledge and lead to misunderstandings or misinterpretations of historical events.
Educational Challenges and Historical Perception
The intersection of educational challenges and social media censorship poses obstacles to the accurate representation and understanding of historical events like the Holocaust. The lack of exposure, combined with content suppression, can contribute to misconceptions, limited historical knowledge, and a diminished awareness of critical historical periods. Addressing these challenges is essential to ensure a well-rounded and informed understanding of significant historical events.
Holocaust Denial on Social Media
The discussion delves into the prevalence of Holocaust denial and anti-Semitic content on platforms like TikTok, highlighting the concerning trend of spreading misinformation and revisionist beliefs. The speakers reflect on the role of social media algorithms in perpetuating ignorance and extremist views, pointing out the lack of effective content moderation on platforms like TikTok. By examining the impact of these platforms on younger audiences, the conversation brings attention to the importance of countering inaccurate narratives and promoting historical education.
Understanding the Perpetrators of Atrocities
The conversation shifts towards exploring the psychology behind individuals who commit heinous acts, emphasizing the significance of understanding how ordinary people can be complicit in atrocities. Reference is made to literature like 'Ordinary Men' by Christopher Browning, which humanizes perpetrators and delves into the complexities of peer pressure and conformity. By rejecting simplistic narratives that paint perpetrators as inherently evil, the dialogue underscores the need for a nuanced understanding of historical events to prevent similar horrors from recurring.
In this newest special installment of History Impossible, we’re joined by long-time friend of the podcast and friend of mine, J.D. Huitt, the man behind the incredible History Underground channel over on YouTube, probably one of the best historical travel and educational content creators in the game (who has more than earned his 600,000 subscribers).
Both J.D. and I were DMing on Twitter/X recently, sharing our discomfort with the seeming spike we’ve been seeing of not just ignorance about the Holocaust—what we thought was one of the best known event of the 20th century—but also the skepticism and even downright denial of it as it’s been traditionally known. This coincided with the Economist-reported YouGov poll released in late 2023 that showed a shocking 20 percent of young Americans believing the Holocaust was a myth, with more vastly underestimating the numbers. As it happens, this is a subject J.D. and I had discussed before in one of our conversations a number of years ago, and J.D. warned the audience that this was the natural consequence of poor education on this subject. Much as it’s crude to say, we felt it was necessary to take a rueful victory lap on our concerns being confirmed.
We discuss why this phenomenon has occurred in a bit more depth, while also offering some broader solutions to how one teaches such a horrifying event in a way that might stick with people, without it simply going in one ear and out the other. It’s hard to say whether we succeed, so we’ll let you be the judge of that.
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