http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/6507969/Adolf-Hitler-was-a-German-football-coach-say-one-in-20-children.html

Adolf Hitler was a German football coach, say one in 20 children
One in 20 schoolchildren thought Adolf Hitler was a coach of the German
football team, a survey said.


Published: 1:21PM GMT 05 Nov 2009

And one in six youngsters said they thought Auschwitz was a Second World
War theme park while one in 20 said the Holocaust was a celebration at the
end of the war.

The survey for a veterans' charity also found one in 10 thought the SS
stood for Enid Blyton's Secret Seven, and one in 12 believed the Blitz was
a European clean-up operation following the Second World War.

Scottish-based charity Erskine, which provides nursing and medical care
for veterans, said it would now take part in a nationwide scheme to
educate schoolchildren about the two world conflicts.

The charity questioned 2,000 children between the ages of nine and 15
about their knowledge of the key people and events of the two wars.

While a quarter admitted they did not think about the soldiers who died in
the conflicts, and 40 per cent said they did not know when Remembrance Day
was, 70 per cent of all those surveyed said they wanted to learn more
about the two wars in school.

Major Jim Panton, chief executive of Erskine, said: ''Some of the answers
to this poll have shocked us and it has shown that Erskine, amongst
others, has a part to play, not just in caring for veterans but in
educating society as a whole.

''As we approach Remembrance Day it is hard to believe that 40 per cent of
our children do not know when it is. Schoolchildren are the future of the
country and it is important that we help them to learn about our
history.''

The charity said it wanted some of the 1,350 veterans it cares for every
year to share their experiences of the war with younger generations.

Erskine will work in partnership with Their Past Your Future (TPYF)
project, a partnership of the Imperial War Museum, the Museums, Libraries
and Archives England, the Northern Ireland Museum Council, the National
Library of Wales and the Scottish Museums Council, to help schoolchildren
learn more about the conflicts.

Andrew Salmond, a project manager for TPYF in Scotland, said: ''This
initiative offers a fantastic opportunity to inform young people about the
experiences of war - both at home and abroad.

''Some, we know, will convey wartime loss and suffering, others will speak
of daring and inspiration. However, all will be of great educational
value, offering an insight to what previous generations have endured in
times of conflict.''



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