Shoah Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Anti-Jewish Remarks.
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The letter puts forth 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 fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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.
Mounting Testimony
This intervention is a response to the rejection of related accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.
Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Ultimate Question
The final appeal poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."
"People who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
