Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

An Unequivocal Demand

The correspondence puts forth direct questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"

The Survivors

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

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 rejection of related accounts by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, additional former pupils have come forward. 28 people connected to the school now state they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes including a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.

Further Allegations

More individuals from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."

"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."