Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.
A group of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The correspondence poses direct questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"
Those Who Signed
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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 public letter comes after the rejection of similar testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now assert they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times including a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally come forward with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate dilemma 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 time to take responsibility and say sorry."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
