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THE FIRST-EVER EIGHT-COUNTRY HOLOCAUST KNOWLEDGE AND AWARENESS INDEX SHOWS GROWING GAP IN KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE HOLOCAUST, ESPECIALLY IN YOUNG ADULTS

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The Majority Of Respondents In Almost Every Country Surveyed Feel Something Like The Holocaust Could Happen Again; A Majority Of Respondents Also Show Strong Desire For Holocaust Education 

NEW YORK, Jan. 23, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — The Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) today released the first-ever, eight-country Index on Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness, exposing a global trend in fading knowledge of basic facts about the Holocaust. The countries surveyed include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary and Romania.

The majority of respondents in each country, except Romania, believe something like the Holocaust (another mass genocide against Jewish people) could happen again today. Concern is highest in the United States, where more than three-quarters (76%) of all adults surveyed believe something like the Holocaust could happen again today, followed by the U.K. at 69%, France at 63%, Austria at 62%, Germany at 61%, Poland at 54%, Hungary at 52%, and Romania at 44%.

Shockingly, some adults surveyed say that they had not heard or weren’t sure if they had heard of the Holocaust (Shoah) prior to taking the survey. This is amplified among young adults ages 18-29 who are the most recent reflection of local education systems; when surveyed, they indicated that they had not heard or weren’t sure if they had heard of the Holocaust (Shoah): France (46%), Romania (15%), Austria (14%) and Germany (12%). Additionally, while Auschwitz-Birkenau is the most well-known camp, nearly half (48%) of Americans surveyed are unable to name a single camp or ghetto established by the Nazis during World War II.

On a more positive note, there is overwhelming support for Holocaust education. Across all countries surveyed, nine-in-10 or more adults believe it is important to continue teaching about the Holocaust, in part, so it does not happen again.

Gideon Taylor, President of the Claims Conference. “The alarming gaps in knowledge, particularly among younger generations, highlight an urgent need for more effective Holocaust education. The fact that a significant number of adults cannot identify basic facts—such as the 6 million Jews who perished—is deeply concerning. Equally troubling is the widespread belief that something like the Holocaust could happen again, underscoring the critical importance of educating people about the consequences of unchecked hatred and bigotry. We are proud of the progress made by our partners worldwide, but this Index makes it clear: there is still much more work to be done.”

While overall awareness about the Holocaust is high across the majority of the countries surveyed, Holocaust distortion is also high. Overall, a majority of all populations surveyed did not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust. 20% or more respondents in seven out of the eight countries surveyed believe 2 million or fewer Jews were murdered during the Holocaust with Romania falling at 28%, Hungary at 27%, and Poland at 24%. What makes this even more surprising is that nearly 3 million of those murdered during the Holocaust were from Poland. Respondents in Germany fared the best with this question but still a surprising 18% of respondents from Germany believe that 2 million or fewer Jews were killed during the Holocaust.

Greg Schneider, Claims Conference Executive Vice President, said, “With the Holocaust survivor population rapidly declining, we are at a critical and irreversible crossroad. Survivors, our most powerful educators, will not be with us much longer—and this Index is a stark warning that without urgent and sustained action, the history and lessons of the Holocaust risk slipping into obscurity. This is our final chance, our last moment in history, to honor their legacy by ensuring that our commitment to remembering their experiences is unshakable and unwavering.”

Matthew Bronfman, Index Taskforce Lead, said, “As we continue to delve into these surveys and understand better where Holocaust education is working and where it requires attention, it is powerful to see that a majority of all people polled across all countries in this index not only agree that Holocaust education is important, but want to continue teaching the Holocaust in schools. Now our task is clear; we must take this mandate and make it happen.”

KEY FINDINGS INCLUDE:

A majority of adults across almost all countries surveyed believe something like the Holocaust could happen again today. In the U.S., more than three-quarters (76%) of all adults surveyed believe something like the Holocaust could happen again today. This sentiment is echoed in the U.K (69%), France (63%), Austria (62%), Germany (61%), Poland (54%), and Hungary (52%). In Romania, 44% of adults surveyed believe something like the Holocaust could happen again today.

Across countries surveyed, large swaths of the population do not know that 6 million Jews were killed during the Holocaust, and notable subsets of the populations believe 2 million or fewer Jews were killed. Participants who believe that 2 million or fewer Jews were killed include 28% in Romania, 27% in Hungary, 24% in Poland, 21% in France, the U.S. and Austria, and 20% in the U.K., and 18% in Germany.

One in five French adults say that they had not heard or weren’t sure if they had heard of the Shoah prior to taking the survey.

A notable portion of young adults ages 18-29 had not heard of the Holocaust in France (46%), Romania (15%), Austria (14%) and Germany (12%).

Across countries surveyed, 18–29-year-olds are more likely to believe that the number of Jews killed during the Holocaust has been exaggerated.

When asked to name concentration camps, killing centers (death camps), killing sites, transit camps or ghettos, nearly half (48%) of Americans could not name a single one of the more than 40,000 camps established during World War II. One-quarter of adults in the U.K., France and Romania, and 26% of all respondents, could not name a single camp or ghetto, while in Germany and Hungary it was 18%, in Austria 10%, and in Poland 7%. Auschwitz-Birkenau is the most well-known camp or ghetto.

Across countries, a sizeable share of the population does not believe the number of Jews killed in the Holocaust has been accurately described. Survey participants who disagree that the Holocaust happened and the number of Jews who were killed has been accurately and fairly described are 25% in France and Austria, 24% in Germany, 23% in Poland and Romania, 19% in Hungary, 17% in the U.K., and 16% in the U.S.

Notably, in Romania, of adults ages 18 to 29, 53% agree that the Holocaust happened, but the number of Jews who were killed in the Holocaust has been greatly exaggerated. Comparatively, this number was 22% in Hungary, 33% in France, 14% in Poland, 21% in Austria, 13% in Germany, 15% in the U.S., and 11% in the U.K.

Overall, Americans and Hungarians are most likely to report that Holocaust denial is common in their countries. In Hungary, 45% of all survey participants state that denial is common in their country. This is followed by 44% in the U.S., 38% in France, 34% in Germany, 27% in Austria, 24% in the U.K. and Romania, and 20% in Poland.

Nearly half of adults in the U.S. (49%), Hungary (47%), France (44%) and Germany (44%) report that Holocaust distortion is common in their country. The results in the additional countries surveyed: Austria (34%), Poland (27%), the U.K. (26%), and Romania (25%) feel it is less so.

Across countries, when asked if they had encountered Holocaust denial or distortion while on social media, nearly half (47%) of Polish adults said “yes.” In Austria and Hungary this number was 38%, in Germany 37%, in the U.S. 33%, in Romania 25%, in the U.K. 23%, and in France 20%.

Across all countries, an overwhelming majority of adults surveyed, (9-in-10 or more), believe it is important to continue teaching about the Holocaust. In the U.S. and Poland, this number was 96%, in the U.K. and Germany 94%, in France and Romania 93%, in Hungary 91%, and Austria 90%.

Likewise, there is a strong desire for Holocaust education in schools. The U.S. was the highest with 95% of all adults surveyed, 93% in Poland, 92% in the U.K., 91% in France, 88% in Hungary, 87% in Germany, 84% in Austria, and 78% in Romania.

To access the executive summary and top line data for this index , please visit: www.claimscon.org/country-survey

Survey Taskforce:
The Eight-Country Index of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness taskforce was led by Claims Conference Board member Matthew Bronfman and comprised historians and subject matter experts from museums, educational institutions, and leading nonprofits in the field of Holocaust education, including Yad Vashem, the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and the Claims Conference.

Taskforce members, including representatives from each of the countries, are as follows:
Task force Chair, Matthew Bronfman, Philippe Allouche, Jochen Boehler, Daniel Botmann, Ana Bǎrbulescu, Richelle Budd Caplan, Robert Ejnes, Shila Erlbaum, Alexandru Florian, Stuart Foster, Abraham Foxman, Jacques Fredj, Christian Fuhrmeister, Deborah Hartmann, Łucja Koch, David Marwell, Michael Feuer, Karen Pollock, Patrick Siegele, Gretchen Skidmore, Andrea Szőnyi, Galith Touati, Piotr Trojański, Felicia Waldman, Mark Weitzman, Robert Williams, Andras Zima

Survey Methodology and Sample:
The Eight-Country Index of Holocaust Knowledge and Awareness was commissioned by the Claims Conference. Data was collected by Global Strategy Group, with a representative sample of 1,000 adults in each country ages 18 and over between November 15, 2023, to November 28, 2023. Countries included: United States, the United Kingdom, France, Austria, Germany, Poland, Hungary, and Romania. The margin of error is +/- 3.1%.

For more information about the Claims Conference, please visit: www.claimscon.org

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-first-ever-eight-country-holocaust-knowledge-and-awareness-index-shows-growing-gap-in-knowledge-about-the-holocaust-especially-in-young-adults-302357865.html

SOURCE Claims Conference

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Marquis Who’s Who Honors Rupin Chothani for Engineering Leadership

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UNIONDALE, N.Y., July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Marquis Who’s Who honors Rupin Chothani for his leadership in engineering and project management. With more than two decades of professional experience to his credit, Mr. Chothani leverages a unique expertise in fire and petrochemical solutions to find success in his field. As project manager, project engineer and proposal manager at Technip Energies N.V., Mr. Chothani ensures effective results.

Drawn to Engineering

Coming from a family of engineers, Mr. Chothani was naturally drawn to the profession. This inclination was reinforced by comprehensive aptitude and attitude tests administered at the age of 14, which highlighted his strengths in engineering and architecture. Ultimately, this direction reinforced his determination to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering.

By 2003, Mr. Chothani earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mumbai. After a brief role as a junior manufacturing engineer at Artech Cooling Tower Pvt. Ltd., he completed a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bridgeport in 2006. In addition to these degrees, Mr. Chothani later achieved AutoCAD certification.

Following his graduation in 2006, Mr. Chothani joined CB&I Lummus / ABB Lummus Heat Transfer (now Lummus Technology) as a thermal engineer. Though his work at Lummus Technology lasted only three years, Mr. Chothani was greatly influenced by mentor figures at the company. These mentors, including Ken Catala, Peter Harvard, Chin Dang and Miller Alanath Carter, provided essential guidance.

Building a Family

In December 2008, Mr. Chothani married his wife, Cathy. Along with his son and daughter, his family has contributed richly to his success in engineering and they continue to inspire him to excel. In addition to their support, Mr. Chothani recognizes that there is no alternative to hard work and dedicated learning.

From Lummus Technology to Technip Energies N.V.

Following his work at Lummus Technology, Mr. Chothani worked with Maco Corporation India Pvt. Ltd. By 2011, he joined Complete Heat Transfer Solutions – Environ Energy Systems as a thermal and mechanical engineer. By 2013, Mr. Chothani became a part of Technip Energies N.V. as a furnace mechanical engineer. By 2023, he added to this role and became a project manager, project engineer and proposal manager at the company.

In his current role at Technip Energies N.V., Mr. Chothani is responsible for a variety of essential duties. He manages and executes on engineering projects for ethylene cracking furnaces and heaters, and oversees proprietary technologies. Additionally, he actively coordinates with procurement, logistics, mechanical engineering and process engineering teams to ensure effective results.

Plans for the Future

Moving forward, Mr. Chothani hopes to advance his project management skills, particularly within the firejet industry. At the same time, he aims to share his knowledge of the industry with the next generation of professionals. Outside of his professional ambitions, Mr. Chothani intends to prepare his children to find success, inspiring them and their peers with hands-on experiments and full-day events.

About Marquis Who’s Who®:

Since 1899, when A. N. Marquis printed the First Edition of Who’s Who in America®, Marquis Who’s Who® has chronicled the lives of the most accomplished individuals and innovators from every significant field, including politics, business, medicine, law, education, art, religion and entertainment. Who’s Who in America® remains an essential biographical source for thousands of researchers, journalists, librarians and executive search firms worldwide. The suite of Marquis® publications can be viewed at the official Marquis Who’s Who® website, www.marquiswhoswho.com.

Marquis Who’s Who
Uniondale, NY
(844) 394 – 6946
info@marquiswhoswho.com
www.marquiswhoswho.com

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COALITION OF INDEPENDENT INTERNET PROVIDERS ASKS CRTC TO FIX ERRORS IN WHOLESALE FIBRE RATES

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Coalition of competitive ISPs say current fibre rates make competition impossible and threatens to harm millions of Canadian consumers

CHATHAM, ON, July 23, 2026 /CNW/ — A coalition of independent internet service providers (the Coalition) led by TekSavvy Solutions Inc. (TekSavvy) today applied to the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to review and vary Telecom Order 2026-77, which set final wholesale rates for fibre internet services. In that decision, the CRTC approved wholesale rates for fibre internet services that are higher than the retail prices charged by the large carriers. This makes competition impossible, as independent providers are forced to either sell at a loss or set prices above the large carriers, leaving millions of Canadian consumers without competitive options for essential internet services.

The application identifies key errors that led the CRTC to approve severely inflated final wholesale rates, which make it economically impossible for independent providers to compete. The Coalition argues that the CRTC’s incorrect rates negate the very purpose of Canada’s wholesale framework, which is to foster competition in retail broadband markets. Specifically, the Coalition asks the CRTC to make three key changes to Telecom Order 2026-77:

Eliminate one cost factor that is inconsistent with the CRTC’s established costing principles, which artificially increased fibre wholesale rates by an estimated 25% to 30% (the Adjustment Factor).Reduce another element of the costing that is inflated above reasonable levels: The Coalition calls on the CRTC to reduce the markup applied to wholesale fibre services from 30% to 15%, reflecting declining costs, operational efficiencies, and the need to support competition.Correct technical errors relating to certain wholesale fibre speed descriptions.

“Canadians were promised greater competition for fibre internet services, but these rates make competition impossible.” said Andy Kaplan-Myrth, TekSavvy’s Vice President of Regulatory and Carrier Affairs. “The CRTC must correct these errors to ensure its wholesale rates promote broadband competition that challenges the market power of monopoly incumbents, lowers prices, and increases consumer choice.”

About the Coalition

The Coalition consists of competitive telecommunications providers and industry associations advocating for fair wholesale access to fibre networks and a competitive broadband marketplace that delivers affordable, high-quality Internet services to Canadians, including: TekSavvy Solutions Inc., BC Broadband Association (“BCBA”), Canada-Wide Internet Service Providers Association (“CanWISP”), Fibernetics Inc., ISP Telecom Inc., National Capital FreeNet Inc., Novus Entertainment Inc. and Purple Cow Internet Inc.

About TekSavvy Solution Inc.

Based in Chatham, Ontario, TekSavvy is Canada’s largest independent telecom service company. TekSavvy has been proudly delivering award-winning services and fighting for consumers’ rights for nearly 30 years. TekSavvy is committed to providing quality competitive choice and closing Canada’s digital divide.

SOURCE TekSavvy Solutions Inc.

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Monk Launches Voice Collections, Bringing AI Phone Calls and Callbacks to Accounts Receivable

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Monk’s collections agent, Julia, can now place outbound collection calls and answer inbound AR questions from a dedicated business number, so finance teams can use the channel that collects best without adding headcount.

Multimedia: Watch Voice Collections in action: https://youtu.be/w09PoN1yACE 

NEW YORK, July 23, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Monk, the AI-native accounts receivable platform, today launched Voice Collections. Its collections agent, Julia, can now place outbound collection calls and answer inbound customer questions about invoices and payments from a dedicated phone number for each organization. The feature brings the phone, long the most effective collections channel and the hardest one to scale, into Monk’s Intelligent Collections.

Roughly $10 trillion sits in unpaid invoices worldwide, and the average invoice now takes 59 days to clear (Allianz). Most accounts receivable runs on email, and most of it waits. More than half of B2B invoices in the United States are overdue at any given time, and 92% of businesses are typically paid after their due date (Chaser, 2026). Phone calls recover overdue invoices two to three times better than email (Dunwise), yet 91% of finance teams still rely on email as their main follow-up channel and only 56% use the phone, because calling every overdue account by hand does not scale and a single human dunning call can cost $12 to $18 (HighRadius).

Voice Collections gives teams that coverage. Julia can call on the accounts a playbook flags for phone follow-up, and answer when a customer calls the same number back to ask about an invoice, a payment, or a bank detail. Businesses that follow up on 100% of overdue invoices are 76% more likely to be paid within a week (Chaser), and a voice agent is what makes full coverage possible.

Monk’s collections agent is already proven on the accounts it handles by email. Across Monk’s first 100 customers, Julia reaches customers with a 24% higher response rate than standard dunning and resolves 88.2% of collections with zero human intervention. Voice extends that reach to the phone.

“For years the assumption was that customers would not talk to an AI on the phone,” said George Kurdin, Founder and CEO of Monk. “The evidence now points the other way. People engage with a good voice agent, and in AR the phone was always the channel that collected best. We built Voice Collections so finance teams can finally use it at the scale email gave them.”

That assumption is worth retiring. In a University of Chicago Booth field study of roughly 70,000 interviews, people interviewed by a voice AI agent were 12% more likely to receive an offer, 18% more likely to start, and 17% more likely to still be there after 30 days, and 80% chose the voice AI over a human when given the choice. The setting was recruiting rather than collections, but the finding travels: given a capable voice agent, people lean in rather than hang up. A call also does something email cannot, which is secure a verbal promise to pay in the moment.

Built for finance, with the phone agents kept with strict guardrails

Voice in finance has to be constrained, and Monk designed Voice Collections around that from the start. The agent is read-only on the phone. It answers questions, confirms details, and routes the next step. It will not rewrite an invoice, change a payment status, or accept a sensitive payment change by voice.

The agent is also reference-based. If a caller asks about an invoice, Julia asks for both the company name and the invoice number before looking anything up, and it will not search broadly from a single detail. Every inbound and outbound call is kept in the collection record alongside the email history, so a callback is part of the same thread the team already sees, and anything that needs judgment escalates to a person.

“Voice in finance has to be careful by design,” said Joe Zhou, Co-Founder and CTO of Monk. “Julia will not browse across accounts or move money over the phone. A caller has to bring the company name and invoice number before it confirms anything, and every call lands in the record. In finance a 1% mistake is still unacceptable, so we built for that first and added the reach second.”

Teams run autonomous collections on Monk

Monk runs collections for finance teams at companies like Unify, Pump, Siro, and Elate, and Voice Collections extends what those teams already do by email onto the phone.

“We chose Monk to help automate our collections, a process previously demanding several hours a week of manual, one-off outreach,” said Will Stewart, Head of Finance and BizOps at Unify. “Today, our Monk agent is always running in the background and I have a single dashboard to manage AR from.”

At Pump, which manages volume across more than 1,500 customers, Monk has helped collect over $10 million in recent months.

Voice AI is now infrastructure

The timing reflects how far voice AI has come. It has moved from demo to infrastructure: Vapi has processed more than 1 billion calls, Bland handles over 3.5 million calls a week, and ElevenLabs raised a $500 million round at an $11 billion valuation in early 2026. Monk builds Voice Collections on that foundation and adds the part finance actually needs, which is the AR context, the controls, and the audit trail.

Voice Collections is available now as an opt-in feature. Monk configures the dedicated number and call behavior with each organization before turning it on in Collections. See it in action: https://youtu.be/w09PoN1yACE.

About Monk

Monk is the AI-native accounts receivable platform that helps finance teams turn revenue into cash. Its agent, Julia, runs collections, cash application, and forecasting as one connected system. Monk resolves 88.2% of collections with zero human intervention, reaches customers with a 24% higher response rate than standard dunning, reduces DSO by more than 40%, automatically matches 80% of incoming payments with a full audit trail, and gives finance teams back roughly 26 hours a month. Teams onboard in under a week and see results in their first month. More than $1.5 billion in receivables is managed on the platform, including for customers like Profound and ElevenLabs. Monk has raised $25 million and is based in New York.

Media contact
Kendall Warson
kendall@monk.com
+1 415-827-6585

Sources: Chaser 2026 Accounts Receivable research; Dunwise dunning research; HighRadius collection call cost analysis; University of Chicago Booth field study on AI in recruiting; voice AI figures compiled by Enterprise DNA; Federal Reserve data; Allianz Worldwide DSO survey.

View original content to download multimedia:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/monk-launches-voice-collections-bringing-ai-phone-calls-and-callbacks-to-accounts-receivable-302833768.html

SOURCE Monk

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