Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of words of hatred – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The letter poses blunt questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Signatories
The collective of eleven survivors contains 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 held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This public letter follows the characterisation of related allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. 28 former pupils and teachers now claim they saw bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times adding a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from diverse backgrounds have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
A Concluding Demand
The final appeal poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."
"Those who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
