I went to a party last night where at least 3 people didn't know what Aushwitz is

[LEVITIKUZ]

Grant it, I don't know 100% what Aushwitz is. But I know it involves the Holocaust.

I'm guessing maybe a city that held a concentration camp or the name of a concentration camp.

 

[Schlosser85]

Grant it, I don't know 100% what Aushwitz is. But I know it involves the Holocaust.

I'm guessing maybe a city that held a concentration camp or the name of a concentration camp.

Auschwitz was pretty much the flagship of the Nazi concentration camp system. It's name was the Germanized version of the Polish town it was based near.

A minimum of 1.1 million people were killed there.

 

[LEVITIKUZ]

Auschwitz was pretty much the flagship of the Nazi concentration camp system. It's name was the Germanized version of the Polish town it was based near.

A minimum of 1.1 million people were killed there.

So I was right! Concentration camp. I knew no doubt it was part of the Holocaust but not the overall specifics of it.

Learn something new everyday.

 

[chaseter]

When I go to parties, I always bring up Auschwitz too.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I met some Americans in 2003-04 who had never heard of 9/11 and Osama Bin Laden.

 

[Fallen Angel]

When I go to parties, I always bring up Auschwitz too.

It's been in the news lately. People tend to talk about current event's.

 

[BrollySupersj]

When Kanye West and Paul McCartney did their duet, there were a ton of Twitter comments like "who is this Paul McCartney? He's about to have a career thanks to Kanye!". One person complimented Kanye for "shining a spotlight on unknown artists".

A piece of me literally just died.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

Geography is another topic that people can be horrible.

I've met several people that think either Russia or Britain is the country that borders the US to the north. I've also seen people think that the country directly to the south of the US is either Spain or Australia, and at least one person said it was China.

 

[Schlosser85]

I want to know how someone would even arrive at the belief that China or Australia is to our south, or that Russia borders our north.

Spain I can sort of get because Mexicans speak Spanish, and Canada has ties to Britain, but Australia? China? Russia?

 

[W/ Great Power]

Wow, this sounds familiar. I was at the check out at the grocery store where my friends and I were all talking about the kinds of music we listen to. One of the baggers was listening in, who was young Black girl, and she told us she like RnB. I told her how I pretty much own every thing from Mariah Carey, but my favorite type of music is Rock. She actually told me, my friends and the other customers behind us, that Black people don't listen to Rock. I was like, yeah, maybe not you, but don't be ignorant. She then gets smart with me, and asks me to name one Black rock artist. I just answered, Jimmy Hendrix. The kid actually goes, "who's that, never heard of him!" The woman behind us was an elderly Black woman, and she got smart with the girl back, telling her she needed to just shut her mouth because all she was doing was embarrasing herself.

Unfortunately, since then, I have noticed that the young Black community really have never heard of the likes of Jimmy Hendrix, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Slash.

Awful.

That is just...awful.

I understand every generation has a share of its ignorant bunch, or those who lack general knowledge, but I feel like we live in an especially troublesome time in regards to that.

Who would have thought that the generation that has the easiest access to an endless stream of knowledge and information, with so many outlets to attain it, would be the one that produces these kind of results? I've reached a point where I'm not even as surprised anymore to hear such stories.

There's no excuse anymore, in my opinion; at least for folks who are fortunate enough to live in first world nations.

 

[Kahran Ramsus]

I want to know how someone would even arrive at the belief that China or Australia is to our south, or that Russia borders our north.

Spain I can sort of get because Mexicans speak Spanish, and Canada has ties to Britain, but Australia? China? Russia?

I have no idea.

Another thing that happened to me once was checking into a hotel in Washington DC behind a guy who was having a long argument with the clerk because the customer thought he was in Seattle, Washington. That was like 30 minutes and it took all my willpower to prevent myself from bursting out laughing.

 

[W/ Great Power]

I have no idea.

Another thing that happened to me once was checking into a hotel in Washington DC behind a guy who was having a long argument with the clerk because the customer thought he was in Seattle, Washington. That was like 30 minutes and it took all my willpower to prevent myself from bursting out laughing.

I think it's suitable to say this in this situation: I am hoping, with all my heart, that this man was just intoxicated.

 

[Spitfire]

A friend works as a history teacher, and they get asked at least once every academic year by a student about Hitler's assassination in a French cinema theatre.

It's all Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino's fault

 

[Schlosser85]

That makes me dread the ideas people got from Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter.

 

[Marvolo]

Tell me they're not serious.

I witnessed that craziness. You'd think in the days of the internet these kids would have at least crossed paths with a Beatles song.

 

[RetrogradeOrbit]

I went to a party last night where at least 3 people didn't know what Aushwitz is

I find it shocking and an appalling indictment of education in general where people don't at least know the name of the place where the worst genocide of the 20th Century took place.

 

[chaseter]

It's been in the news lately. People tend to talk about current event's.

Yeah great conversation at parties.

 

[Silvermoth]

Man I just love talking about the holocaust at parties.

It was on one of the cards when we were playing cards against humanity.

I'm a little concerned that some of the people having a crack at the idea that one of the most devasting moments in history was brought up at a party are people who maybe also didn't know what aushwitz was. The outrage seems oddly misplaced.

The worst part is like...did you not pay attention in history class? Damn, we had 12 years of it and that's if you opted not to go to college. Or do you not watch television? In your entire life, you are bound to figure out some basic stuff.

Yeah that's pretty much what I said.

Tbh it's not just a "this generation is so stupid" thing. It really worries me that people have no idea what the consequences of hatred are like that. I've been in touch with my local Jewish holocaust centre to see if they have some booklets or things to at least get one of my friends started. I fear if I gave him entire novels or biographies he simply would not read them

 

[Warhammer]

Ask him if he has about 4 hours. Then hand him a copy of Schindler's List. He'll never forget it.

 

[warhorse78]

Tell me they're not serious.

Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure they are. I myself was in an elevator once, hearing Band on the Run, and the guy next to me, who looked maybe 18-ish, was like," this song has a nice sound to it, who is singing?" I gave him the benefit of the doubt, because even I don't know all the Beatle related songs there are, so I told him it was Paul McCartney and his band Wings. He was like, "who?" And I was like, you know, Paul McCartney from the Beatles? He still shook his head.

Granted, I was trying to name some songs he might know, but, i will give him credit that he at least recognized John Lennon's Imagine.

 

[Teelie]

Some of these stories of ignorance are so grandiose I can't believe they are accurate. Or I suppose, I don't want to believe people can really think something as dumb as Russia and/or Australia is north of the United States or that Spain is where Mexico is.

At least Austria/Australia has the acceptable similarity to name to excuse it's dumabssery.

 

[Feenix]

I would hope that WWII is still a major part of history classes in school.

If it's not, then I worry for future generations.

We are doomed to repeat past mistakes that we've never even heard of.

 

[Teelie]

World War II is the last major war most (U.S. at least) schools teach about. At least that's as far as I ever got. Strange that despite 12 years of education, they seemed to insist on teaching the same basic lessons and never getting to the more modern era of history.

 

[Pink Ranger]

I want to know how someone would even arrive at the belief that China or Australia is to our south, or that Russia borders our north.

Da, tovarisch ... I mean, wow, I agree, that's silly, my longtime ally we are not planning on invading next Tuesday. (covered that one up nicely I think).

 

[Thundercrack85]

I wish I didn't know what Auschwitz was.

I read about it at length as a kid, and it's one of those things that will always haunt you.

If you don't know what it is, you should though.

It's the darkest chapter in human history. And the injustice doesn't end with the crime. Most people involved were never even brought to justice.

Almost every major German company had a role in its construction and operation.