Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a missive.
"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."
A Pointed Inquiry
The document asks straightforward 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 antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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.
Mounting Testimony
This intervention follows the rejection of related allegations by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have also shared experiences with stories of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"People who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."