50% have never heard of Auschwitz

Almost half of the adult British population have never heard of Auschwitz, a major new survey reveals today.

And among women and people under 35 the figure rises to 60 per cent. The shocking new statistics are the results of research commissioned over three years by the BBC.

They form part of a new TV series made to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the camp. Auschwitz: The Nazis And The Final Solution is today unveiled as the centrepiece of BBC2's new winter season and is written by Bafta-award-winning producer Laurence Rees.

Also in the winter schedule are The Ann Widdecombe Project - in which the MP turns agony aunt; the hit musical show Jerry Springer: The Opera; and a new series, My Life as a Child, where children aged five to 11, wield the cameras.