I remember it was 2 million when I was a kid and now it’s six.
It was taught as 11, when I was a kid. The difference comes from what counts as Holocaust and what doesn't - conservatively, at the time, it was lower because it referred to the process of targeting and deporting, then killing, in an industrial fashion. At first it included one group who have been completely forgotten - the disabled, the first group to be demonised.
This expanded to include all Jews, hence 6,000,000, then expanded again to include non-Jews.
There is a huge amount of how different cultures play into it. The UK
used to have a much wider scope since the war was something so many people actually engaged in. But their memories have been wiped out, and replaced.
They had a lot to say about how there were multiple atrocities going on, camps in the far east, gulags in Russia and the camps in Germany, and they were disturbed at how the Russian gulags are now not talked about.
They're likely disturbed about a lot more than just that. South Africa and Rhodesia have been completely retconned, despite dominating the North Africa campaign. And how the Arab world has somehow gone from being a nightmarish empire of torture and slavery to some oppressed minority - the death marches of Japan were second only to those captured by the Ottomans during the First War.
The Holocaust being the "only thing" we remember from the wars is a bigger problem than the constant changes in how it's presented. In the scope of the war, in total, it's not even
remotely unbelievable. If anything, it's as you said - "yes, that was a fucking horrifying event, but it wasn't even the worst part" - but as we see now, with Jews, somehow the "racism bad" stayed while the "don't try to wipe out the Jews" came back. They chucked the baby out and have been drinking the bathwater for the last six months.
We don't remember Section VII, we don't remember the sacrifices the French made to get the soldiers out, or how it was the Afrikaaners and Rhodesians who held the line in North Africa, or the value in vigilance and taking people at their word. Somehow, we have kept the idea that niggers, Pakis and the most vile dregs of humanity are "oppressed" while the groups who have a history of actual oppression are demonised. Russians are brave but brutal, Jews are smart but dishonest, while Pakis are cowardly
and dumb with absolutely no redeeming features. In order for something to be really oppressed, it has to have some positive quality which is not being used due to that oppression - where, exactly, is this redeeming quality among Pakis?
The other part of the Holocaust is that you should
take people at their word. Racism is taboo because we saw what happens when people's word isn't taken seriously, and even a joke can show deeper intentions - Hitler had made his intentions clear, but people were too busy to address it until it was too late. They saw the crazy homeless guy, and thought "He won't get far" - even Einstein underestimated how much damage Hitler was going to do to Jews. He was a threat but nobody took him seriously, because they couldn't really picture how it could turn into a reality.
After the war, people changed their tune and were aggressive towards those who voiced racism - because they now knew how bad racism can get. But that message came with "extreme politics" - the idea that you shouldn't tolerate extreme positions, because they actually
can get into power.
Now, we have Pakis screeching in the street and chanting for Islam, yet if you fight against it, you are villainised. You are told that your fears are unrealistic - that there's nothing to be worried about. It's
very important to remember how the Holocaust actually happened, because we have extremists on the street and a meek, cowardly political class who will do
nothing to stop them.