Hamilton NDP candidate Alex Johnstone has been invited on an educational tour of Auschwitz after saying she didn't know what the gruesome Nazi-era death camp was until this week.

The public invitation from the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center for Holocaust Studies comes as Johnstone faces strident backlash after her confession.

"It's quite shocking to us that she lacks this knowledge," CEO Avi Benlolo said Thursday.

Johnstone is weathering a social media maelstrom after apologizing for a penis-related joke she made about Auschwitz seven years ago.

The Hamilton Jewish Federation also expressed astonishment Johnstone didn't know about the hub of Adolf Hitler's "final solution" in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Any candidate for public office "should absolutely have basic knowledge of major historical atrocities such as the Holocaust," CEO Barb Babij said in a statement.

In a joint statement issued with Jewish human rights organization B'nai Brith Canada late Thursday, Johnstone vowed to "continue to learn about the Holocaust and speak out against hate in all its forms."

The Hamilton West-Ancaster-Dundas hopeful's gaffes blew up in the national media spotlight a day after making her case to voters during an all-candidates' meeting at Dundas Baptist Church Tuesday evening.

On Thursday, the candidate in the Oct. 19 federal election declined to comment on how the fallout was affecting her bid to represent the new riding.

"We will not be commenting today," campaign manager Paul Mason said in an email.

Instead, requests for comment were kicked up to the NDP's national media team, which said a statement would be posted Thursday on Johnstone's Facebook page.

In the B'nai Brith statement, Johnstone pledges to work with the organization to raise awareness of anti-Semitism and Holocaust education.

CEO Michael Mostyn states: "Having had a meaningful conversation with Alex about her comments on Facebook, we feel that she truly appreciates why her Facebook comments were inappropriate."

Johnstone reiterates the comments were "clearly inappropriate":

"Regardless of what happens this election, I have reached out to B'nai Brith and personally pledged to work with their experts to raise awareness about the ever increasing need to combat racism, discrimination and anti-semitism."

What was shaping up to be a tight race for the incumbent-free new Hamilton riding has likely opened it up, said McMaster political scientist Peter Graefe. "It gives people an excuse for why they wouldn't consider her anymore."

"I think she probably salvages the campaign by relying on the short memories of voters," Graefe added.

Johnstone's opponents are Liberal Filomena Tassi, Conservative Vincent Samuel and Peter Ormond of the Greens.

Earlier this week, the NDP candidate apologized after political website True North Times unearthed her Auschwitz-related penis joke in a story published Tuesday.

Johnstone made the remark in reaction to a photo a Facebook friend had posted of the camp's electrified gates on the social media site in 2008.

"Ahhh, the infamous Pollish (sic), phallic, hydro posts … of course you took pictures of this! It expresses the how the curve is normal, natural, and healthy right!"

After a strong performance at the candidates' forum, Johnstone told The Spectator she'd only learned what Auschwitz was this week.

Her admission also compelled the Hamilton public school board, of which Johnstone is vice-chair, to issue a formal statement Thursday.

"We expect our staff and students to have an understanding of the Holocaust and believe we should model this as trustees," chair Todd White said.

In an interview, White said Johnstone assured him she "realizes that she could certainly close that gap in knowledge and understanding."

Benlolo said that gap is "much more difficult to swallow" given that Holocaust imagery is so prominent, not only in movies such as "Schindler's List," but also as part of Ontario's school curriculum.

"Look, it's possible that she was embarrassed and this was her quick, silly response," he offered.

The Toronto-based centre's From Compassion to Action visit to Europe in October makes a stop in Auschwitz. "Our interest really is to educate people, to turn a negative into a positive."

Social media comments have come back to haunt other candidates in this federal campaign.

Ala Buzreba, a Liberal candidate in Calgary, packed it in after four-year-old tweets in which she says someone should be aborted with a coat hanger were brought to light.

Soheil Eid, a Conservative hopeful in Joliette, Que., apologized for a Facebook post that compared NDP Leader Tom Mulcair's comments with those of Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's propaganda minister.

[ Read Alex Johnstone's official statement ]

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