Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have experienced firsthand 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 teasing. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The document poses straightforward questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 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 concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Growing Accounts
This intervention follows the characterisation of corroborating allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. 28 people connected to the school now state they saw bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
