2024 Survey of Ontario Grade 6 Students on the Holocaust and Antisemitism

In 2021, Liberation75 surveyed 3,600 teens across North America and found that one in three respondents believed that the Holocaust was exaggerated, fabricated, or that they were not sure what to think. In response, the Province of Ontario enacted a Holocaust education mandate — the first in Canada — for Grade 6 students effective September 2023. Liberation75, in collaboration with other Holocaust organizations, partnered with Ontario’s Ministry of Education to support the implementation of this mandate. 

The 2024 Survey of Ontario Grade 6 Students on the Holocaust and Antisemitism was conducted to evaluate whether the mandated curriculum put in place in 2023 was effective in teaching factual information, and to measure changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to the Holocaust, antisemitism, and discrimination. 

The pre-treatment survey was completed by more than 11,000 Ontario grade 6 students in January 2024 with a key takeaway that 67% of students said they think the Holocaust could happen again.

A post-treatment survey was completed in June 2024 by more than 5,000 grade 6 students that had participated in Liberation75’s educational program. Key findings showed that:

• 66% of students said Jewish people experience antisemitism a lot or sometimes in Ontario. 

• 56% of students said that "when antisemitism happens in Ontario it is a big problem that needs urgent attention."

• 29% of students said Canada should be doing more to combat hate today. 

• 29% of students said they wanted to fight antisemitism in Canada.

• 92% students recommended that other grade 6 students should read To Hope and Back: The Journey of the St. Louis by Kathy Kacer. 

Additionally, there was a major improvement in students’ understanding of the Holocaust, with 81% of students, up from 67%, affirming that the Holocaust happened and that six million Jewish people were murdered. 

These results suggest that the Holocaust educational intervention not only enhanced student knowledge but also fostered empathy, social responsibility, and a commitment to moral action.