Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Statements.
A group of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not among children. Not anywhere."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence puts forth blunt questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences 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 living through the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Additional names on the letter 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 dismissal of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now state they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter poses a final challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends."
"People who hope to lead our country should not ever create division by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
