Half of Nevadans polled were unable to define antisemitism, a new survey released by the Governor’s Advisory Council on Education Relating to the Holocaust found.
Further, 8 percent of respondents said they believe the numbers of those who died in the Holocaust were exaggerated, with 1 percent of respondents believing the Holocaust is a myth.
Elliot Malin, chairperson of the advisory council, wanted to get a true understanding of the state of Holocaust education throughout Nevada. In order to do so, the council surveyed 1,400 registered voters with the financial support of the Nevada Center for Humanity and Jewish Nevada.
According to the survey’s methodology report, the sample demographics were weighted to “accurately reflect the registered voter population.”
For Malin, staying objective meant excluding high school students from the survey. He feels that high school students are more likely to see things that are “right in front of them, right now” and wanted to see instead how education has served those who are past their high school days.
“Unfortunately, I’m not surprised,” Malin said of the survey’s findings. “There were some glimmers of hope but ultimately we must do better.”
Only 37 percent of Nevadans surveyed were able to accurately state the number of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust. Many who got this wrong gave a number lower than the international best estimate of 6 million.
Though the survey concluded that Holocaust knowledge is low, particularly among younger Nevadans, Malin said that the findings also reveal opportunities to grow.
Part of this growth involves combating an onslaught of misinformation and disinformation. “This isn’t unique to the Holocaust, or to the conflict in the Middle East,” Malin said. His strategy is to welcome conversation.
Malin recalled a day spent protesting in Reno just two weeks after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. He said he held a sign reading “Hamas wants dead Jews.”
“One of the individuals came and talked to me,” Malin said. He remembered responding that he felt the person had valid questions. “We should be asking these questions.”
He then recalled a man yelling at pro-Palestinian protesters, saying bigoted remarks. He said he asked him to stop saying things that were hurtful.
“I recognize the pain that my community is in, but I also have to recognize the pain that their community is in,” he said, emphasizing the importance of centering humanity.
The survey also revealed that 30 percent of respondents had seen or heard of Nazi symbols appearing in their communities. This number neared 40 percent when applied to online communities.
The majority of users reported seeing Holocaust jokes on Telegram, which Malin said he wasn’t necessarily surprised by given the encrypted, often anonymous nature of the platform.
What did surprise him was a large amount of the same content reported on Snapchat. This was “really alarming,” he said. “It’s somebody you know, it’s a friend.”
Moving forward, Malin believes in education through collaboration to try and change some of these statistics.
“Holocaust education is not just history — it’s music, it’s literature. It can be cooking,” he said. “We need to be doing things together.”
Contact Estelle Atkinson at eatkinson@reviewjournal.com.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
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