Teachers across the Netherlands are increasingly facing a troubling trend: students bringing Holocaust misinformation into the classroom, often picked up from TikTok or
generated by artificial intelligence.
A recent survey by NOS Stories, which reached nearly all secondary schools in the country, highlights how widespread the issue has become. Out of 190 teachers who responded, 111 said they had encountered students repeating false or misleading claims about the Holocaust.
Maarten Post, a history teacher in Elburg, says this has become a regular part of his job. Students recently showed him a TikTok video claiming that only 271,000 Jews were killed during World War II—far below the widely documented figure of six million—and asked if it was true.
According to Post, these moments, while concerning, also present an opportunity. He believes it’s important not to dismiss students’ questions outright. Instead, he sees them as genuine attempts to understand a confusing digital world where truth and fiction often blur.
Many teachers say students generally engage well during Holocaust lessons. However, about one-third feel their students lack sufficient background knowledge. While most students are aware that Jews were persecuted, they often don’t grasp the scale or details. Even more worrying, 40% of teachers report that some students tend to downplay the severity of what happened.
Experts warn that this confusion isn’t limited to teenagers. Federica Russo, a professor of philosophy and ethics, points out that even adults struggle to tell real content from fake online. Social media has fundamentally changed how people consume information. When a video is shared by a trusted influencer, viewers are less likely to question its origin or accuracy.
Russo notes that older generations, who grew up with traditional media, often have a clearer sense of what constitutes reliable journalism. Younger people, raised entirely in the digital age, don’t always have that same framework.
In another example, teacher Gijs Korenblik in Warnsveld tested his students and colleagues by showing them two images of Auschwitz—one real and one AI-generated. More than half failed to identify the fake. The artificial image depicted a calm, orderly arrival of Jewish prisoners, omitting the violence and chaos that actually occurred.
Although Korenblik says students rarely bring such misinformation to him directly, he is increasingly concerned about the sheer volume of AI-generated historical content circulating online. He believes schools are still figuring out how to respond to this rapidly evolving challenge.
The Dutch Ministry of Education has also expressed concern. Officials stress that teaching history alone is no longer enough; students must also learn how to critically evaluate information and distinguish fact from fiction.
To support this, schools can access resources focused on digital literacy. Additional funding has also been made available this year to strengthen Holocaust education, including opportunities for students to visit museums and engage more deeply with history beyond the classroom.
As misinformation continues to spread online, teachers are finding themselves on the front lines—not just of education, but of truth itself.