Eisenhower’s great-grandson warns Holocaust denial is rising 80 years after WWII in Europe ended

Eighty years after the Holocaust, far too many people are either downplaying its severity or denying it altogether, warned Merrill Eisenhower Atwater, great-grandson of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower. 

His remarks came as nations around the world on Thursday commemorated the 80th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.

On May 8, 1945, Nazi Germany formally surrendered to the Allied powers, bringing an end to the war in Europe—a conflict that claimed the lives of approximately 40 million people, including the extermination of 6 million Jews.

Last month, Eisenhower Atwater took part in the March of the Living on Holocaust Remembrance Day, walking alongside survivors and thousands of participants from around the world. The march traces the path from Auschwitz to Birkenau, the Nazi death camps in occupied Poland, in a solemn tribute to the victims and in honor of the surv...