Politicizing Memory: Who thinks the Holocaust should be put behind us?

June 25, 2026

The Holocaust was the systematic, state-sponsored persecution and murder of six million Jews by Nazi Germany and its collaborators, alongside the targeting of other groups, and it remains a defining warning about where antisemitism, dehumanization, and indifference can lead. A June 2027 Leger survey for the Association for Canadian Studies reveals that a majority of Canadians disagree that the Holocaust is an issue of the past and not as relevant to present day society. Still, an important minority—about one-third—does agree that the Holocaust is less relevant to present-day. that agreement with “moving on” from the Holocaust is not merely a neutral opinion as many of those who support this view disproportionately endorse antisemitic tropes as revealed in a deeper dive into the survey results. Among those who strongly agree that since October 7, 2023 they have become more negative toward Jewish people, 51% strongly agree that the Holocaust is mostly an issue of the past. Among those who strongly agree that Jewish people in Canada are responsible for the actions of the Israeli government, 55% strongly agree that the Holocaust is mostly an issue of the past and not as relevant to present-day society. Among those who strongly disagree that Canadian Jews are responsible for Israel’s government, only 7% strongly agree that the Holocaust is mostly in the past. The results illustrate that those who think it is time to “move on” from the Holocaust are more inclined to endorse the antisemitic trope of holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of Israel. Put another way the cross-tabs suggest that Holocaust minimization and contemporary antisemitic generalization reinforce each other. People who collapse distinctions between Israel, the Israeli government, Jews globally, and Jews in Canada are also more likely to reject the continuing relevance of Holocaust memory. Of course not everyone who suggests that it is time to move on from the Holocaust is antisemitic but the data do confirm a strong link between contemporary antisemitic tropes and the weakening of Holocaust memory.