Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.
A group of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere."
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 peers to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- 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 in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Growing Accounts
This action is a response to the dismissal of related accounts by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 people connected to the school now claim they observed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", on occasion making a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from ethnic minorities have likewise shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny 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 apologise."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
