Long Island, NY (April 16, 2026)

A new Long Island-based survey is raising concern among educators after finding that a notable share of registered voters either do not believe Holocaust education should be required in schools or declined to say. The results come in a state where public schools are already required to provide instruction on the Holocaust as part of broader teaching on human rights and genocide.

According to the poll of 400 registered voters, 30% either said the Holocaust should not be a required part of school curriculum or refused to answer the question. Another 15% said the number of Holocaust deaths had been exaggerated or declined to respond, while 27% either agreed with or would not answer a question asking whether Jews are too focused on the Holocaust and should move on.

The findings have set off alarm among educators and Jewish community advocates, who say the results point to troubling gaps in public understanding of one of history’s most documented atrocities. For many, the numbers also reinforce concerns that Holocaust distortion and historical ignorance remain serious problems even in communities where formal instruction is already mandated.

In New York, state education guidance requires districts to include Holocaust instruction, though debates have continued in recent years over how consistently and how deeply the subject is taught from one district to another. That concern has only grown as antisemitic incidents have remained elevated in New York and across the country, putting added pressure on schools to ensure students receive clear and meaningful historical education.

The survey’s release comes at a moment when Holocaust education is taking on added urgency, with the population of living survivors continuing to decline and schools increasingly seen as one of the last institutions capable of passing on firsthand historical understanding to younger generations. On Long Island, where Jewish communities are deeply rooted and Holocaust remembrance efforts remain active, the poll is likely to intensify calls for stronger classroom instruction and broader public education.