17 years ago this week, 67 people gathered for a conference in Iran

The two-day meeting had an academic name: The International Conference to Review the Global Vision of the Holocaust

It drew 67 people, including David Duke, an ex-KKK leader; Georges Theil, a French politician repeatedly convicted under Holocaust denial laws; and Bendikt Frings, an ultranationalist German politician who said he had been waiting "all my childhood" for such a conference

Iran’s foreign minister said his government was hosting the conference to "create an opportunity for thinkers who cannot express their views freely in Europe about the Holocaust"

He added, "If the official version of the Holocaust is thrown into doubt, then the identity and nature of Israel will be thrown into doubt. And if, during this review, it is proved that the Holocaust was a historical reality, then what is the reason for the Palestinians having to pay the cost of the Nazis' crimes?"

Over the two days, the conference’s attendees dismissed the narrative that 6M Jews were killed in the Holocaust

Some people claimed the Holocaust had never happened; others claimed Jewish leaders were behind it or that if Jews died, it was not a planned extermination

Historians and Western leaders blasted the conference as a “Holocaust denial” convention

The UK’s prime minister called it “shocking beyond belief”; President George W. Bush called it an “affront to the entire civilized world”

For Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the criticism was nothing new

A year prior, Ahmadinejad had delivered a speech to a crowd in southern Iran

"They have created a myth in the name of Holocaust and consider it to be above God, religion and the prophets," he said

Given that the Holocaust was a myth, he added, Israel should be "wiped off the map"

New data released this week suggests that 17 years later, these views have taken root among young Americans

The data comes from an Economist/YouGov poll of 1,500 US adult citizens between December 2 and 5

One question asked if it was antisemitic to deny the Holocaust

Across all ages, 67% of respondents said it was, 9% said it was not, and the rest were unsure

Among 18-to-29-year-olds, though, 46% said it was antisemitic while 17% said it was not and 37% said they were unsure

Another asked if people agree that the Holocaust was a myth

Across all ages, 7% said yes while 77% did not

Among 18-to-29-year-olds, though, 20% agreed while 30% said they did not know

Another asked if people agree that the Holocaust was exaggerated

Across all ages, 9% said yes while 74% did not

Among 18-to-29-year-olds, 23% agreed while 26% neither agreed nor disagreed

Only 52% disagreed

18-to-29-year-olds were outliers across all these questions

Biden and Trump voters, urban and rural, men and women – when sampling across all ages, they mostly agreed that the Holocaust happened, that it was not exaggerated, and that denying it is antisemitic

Many people have been trying to explain the trend by blaming social media, bad education, and general distrust of authority and information among young people

Some have suggested that this was bound to happen in the US, where Holocaust denial is constitutionally protected

In France, Germany, Canada, and other countries, these answers could violate Holocaust denial laws

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