Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The political party leader has said he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The letter puts forth direct questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved 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 concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Mounting Testimony
This action is a response to the dismissal of related allegations by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
Following the publication, additional former pupils have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes adding a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also spoken publicly with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has rejected the claim that such actions were without intent.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
