Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.
A collective of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."
An Unequivocal Demand
The letter asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
The Signatories
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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 intervention is a response to the dismissal of related accounts by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
More individuals from ethnic minorities have also come forward with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has rejected the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
