One in 20 Europeans has never heard of the Holocaust – is not only unfamiliar with some of the more obscure details but altogether unaware of the organized and systematic massacre of six million Jews during World War II.

This is just one of the shocking statistics behind a new initiative that is seeking to combat increasing efforts to distort history, as the world marks International Holocaust Remembrance Day on Wednesday.

Called #ProtectTheFacts, it is being launched this week by the European Commission, the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA), the United Nations and UNESCO.

Holocaust denial has existed since Nazi death camps were first revealed to the world, but it has been getting worse in recent years, amid a broader questioning of truth and facts.

"Holocaust denial and distortion are symptoms of increasing disinformation, hate speech and prejudice worldwide," #ProtectTheFacts said in a press statement that was sent to CGTN.

"The coronavirus pandemic has accelerated this trend and has heralded an explosion of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories on social media platforms," it added. "Protests against coronavirus restrictions in many European countries were reported to be permeated with far-right and anti-Semitic rhetoric."

The statement cited statistics showing that 64 percent of young Americans did not know how many Jews were killed during the Holocaust, while 47 percent of Germans said in a survey last month that they felt the majority of their compatriots carried no responsibility or "not very much" for the systematic extermination of Jews.

Most documented event in history

Distortion has gained ground even though the Holocaust is the most well-documented event in history, according to #ProtectTheFacts.

Efforts can range from downplaying the Final Solution and minimizing the number of victims and the role of the perpetrators, to blaming Jews for their own genocide and otherwise trivializing and misrepresenting events.

During the January 6 raid on the U.S. Capitol, pictures of a man wearing a "Camp Auschwitz" sweatshirt that also featured the words "Work brings freedom" – echoing the phrase that greeted deportees at the entrance to the extermination camp – went viral on social media, provoking outrage.

At a 2017 rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, white nationalists chanted "Blood and Soil," a well-known Nazi slogan. 

Such examples are not just limited to fringe movements: #ProtectTheFacts has also warned against "state-sponsored manipulation of Holocaust history in order to sow political discord within or outside a nation's borders."

In recent years, governments in Hungary and Poland, and far-right parties and politicians in many other countries, have faced accusations of anti-Semitism.

France and Germany have seen a rise in anti-Semitic attacks, while a U.S. survey in October found that 82 percent of American Jews felt anti-Semitism had increased over the past five years.

A warning for the future

If we distort the past, we risk repeating it, #ProtectTheFacts warns on its website.

"Holocaust distortion paves the way for Holocaust denial, anti-Semitism, conspiracy myths and dangerous forms of nationalism."

"When the Holocaust is relativized or distorted, anti-Semitism doesn't seem as outrageous anymore," it notes. "History has taught us what can happen when anti-Semitism is normalized."

International Holocaust Remembrance Day is held every year on January 27 and marks the day in 1945 when Auschwitz was liberated by Soviet troops.

On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, UNESCO Director-General Audrey Azoulay and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will take part in an online ceremony to pay tribute to Holocaust victims. This will be followed by an online panel discussion on Holocaust denial and distortion with experts and survivors.

"Remembrance ties us fundamentally to the facts, to what took place and the people it affected," IHRA chair Michaela Kuechler said ahead of the commemoration. "When we remember, when we strive to reflect upon this suffering, we understand that as unimaginable as it is, it is just as undeniable."