Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his school days.
The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter asks straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported 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 dismissal of similar accounts by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
Following the publication, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", on occasion adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter poses a final challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to admit your error and make amends."
"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
