Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
A Pointed Inquiry
The document asks direct questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
- 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.
Mounting Testimony
This public letter is a response to the characterisation of corroborating 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 state they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion including a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Ultimate Question
The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry."
"People who hope to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
