Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days.

The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a letter.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The letter asks blunt questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This action follows the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now state they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion including a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."