Antisemitism is a daily reality in classrooms across Europe, according to a new UNESCO survey that paints a troubling picture of rising hate, Holocaust denial, and violence
against Jewish students in the European Union.
Published on Holocaust Remembrance Day with the support of the European Commission, the report reveals that 78% of teachers surveyed across the EU have witnessed at least one antisemitic incident among students. More than one in four teachers said such incidents occurred repeatedly, with 27% reporting nine or more cases in their classrooms.
The findings are based on responses from 2,030 teachers in 23 EU member states, making it the first Europe-wide study focused on educators’ experiences with antisemitism at school.
Holocaust denial and violence on the rise
The survey highlights alarming levels of Holocaust denial and distortion, with 61% of teachers encountering it among students and 11% saying it occurs frequently. Physical violence is also present: one in ten teachers reported witnessing attacks against Jewish students.
Nearly half of respondents (44%) said they had seen students making Nazi salutes or drawing, wearing, or displaying Nazi symbols. Even more concerning, 42% of teachers reported encountering antisemitic behavior from colleagues.
A majority of educators admitted feeling unprepared to respond. Sixty-one percent said they had been unable, at least once, to adequately answer students’ questions about antisemitism.
“Hate speech at levels unseen since World War II”
UNESCO warned that hate speech — particularly antisemitism and Holocaust denial — has reached levels not seen since the end of World War II, amplified by digital platforms and emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence.
Despite the scale of the problem, 70% of teachers said they had received no professional training on how to recognize or address contemporary antisemitism. Fewer than one-third had participated in external training programs offered by specialist organizations.
The survey was developed by the UCL Centre for Holocaust Education and conducted between August 2024 and May 2025, with dissemination support from Public First and national education ministries across Europe.
UNESCO launches new tools for educators
To respond to the findings, UNESCO has unveiled a new set of educational resources aimed at helping teachers confront antisemitism more effectively.
These include:
- “Strategies to Counter Antisemitism: A Handbook for Educators”, offering practical classroom guidance built around ten concrete teaching practices.
- A study on representations of Jews and antisemitism in European school textbooks, identifying stereotypes and gaps across eight countries and recommending curriculum reforms.
- An online course on teaching violent pasts, designed to help educators address difficult historical topics with accuracy and sensitivity.
The initiatives are part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to combat antisemitism, hate speech, and violent extremism through education, and align with the EU Anti-Racism Strategy.
Europe-wide training expanded
Together with the European Commission and the OSCE, UNESCO has expanded a dedicated training programme on addressing antisemitism to all EU member states in 2025. Since 2023, more than 1,300 educators and policymakers across Europe have participated in these programs.
UNESCO said education remains one of the most powerful tools to counter antisemitism, stressing that classrooms must become spaces of knowledge, empathy, and historical truth — not silence or denial. Photo by Quinn Dombrowski from Berkeley, USA, Wikimedia commons.