Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we grasp the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a missive.
"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The document poses straightforward questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved 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 concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.
Other signatories 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 similar allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, more contemporaries have come forward. 28 ex-students and educators now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have also spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."
"Individuals who aspire 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 path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
