Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Comments.
A group of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The document puts forth direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing 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 breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to 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 follows the dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have also shared experiences with accounts of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."
"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
