Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his school days.
The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence asks direct 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 classmates to bigoted harassment?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.
The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This intervention is a response to the rejection of similar accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes adding a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"People who hope to lead our country should never create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
