Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Remarks.
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The group of eleven survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Mounting Testimony
This intervention comes after the dismissal of related allegations by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have come forward. 28 former pupils and teachers now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes making a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have likewise spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to admit your error and say sorry."
"People who seek to govern our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
