Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The letter asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending 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.
The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Mounting Testimony
This intervention is a response to the characterisation of similar accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
Following the publication, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion including a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea 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 missive from survivors asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."
"People who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
