Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.

A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.

"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Survivors

The collective of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder 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 in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This action comes after the characterisation of related accounts by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion including a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."

"Those who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."