ONE in 20 British people deny the Holocaust happened, a poll has found.

The survey conducted by the Holocaust Memorial Day Trust suggested that 5 per cent of British people do not believe that the mass extermination of Jews during World War II took place.

Almost half of all people questioned (45 per cent) said they didn’t know how many Jewish people were killed by the nazis.

One in five (19 per cent) underestimated the number, saying that fewer than two million Jews were killed, and nearly one in 10 people (8 per cent) also believed that the scale of the Holocaust has been exaggerated.

Over three-quarters of all participants (76 per cent) believed that more needs to be done to teach people about what happened during the Holocaust.

However, campaigners expressed concern over the poll’s findings for revealing a depth of ignorance over the Holocaust.

The poll was released to coincide with Holocaust Memorial Day, which is commemorated annually on the anniversary of the Red Army’s liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp.

Over six million Jews were killed by the nazis across Europe and north Africa.

A large event in central London took place yesterday to honour the victims, and more than 11,000 events had been scheduled to take place over the weekend as well as today.

Holocaust Memorial Day Trust chief executive Olivia Marks-Woldman said: “The Holocaust threatened the fabric of civilisation and has implications for us all.

“Such widespread ignorance and even denial is shocking.

“Without a basic understanding of this recent history, we are in danger of failing to learn where a lack of respect for difference and hostility to others can ultimately lead.

“We cannot be complacent.”

Steven Frank, who was one of only 93 children to survive the Theresienstadt concentration camp, said: “In my experience, people don’t have a solid understanding of what happened during the Holocaust.

“The only way to fight this kind of denial and anti-semitism is with the truth.

“If we ignore the past, I fear history will repeat itself.”

Labour politician Lord Alfred Dubs, a refugee from nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia, released a video over the weekend detailing his experiences in fleeing the Holocaust and demanding support for modern refugees.

He tweeted: “My wish is for the UK government to show the same humanity to refugees that Britain showed me in 1939.”

The TUC said that the day reminds all trade unionists to “challenge and confront the far right.”