Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Remarks.
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of hateful words – for we have seen where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The correspondence asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?"
The Signatories
The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to 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.
Mounting Testimony
This action follows the dismissal of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times making a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
