Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Comments.
A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his school days.
The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the grave risk of words of hatred – because we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not ever."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence poses direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Growing Accounts
This intervention is a response to the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they saw bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
