Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks.
A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.
The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter puts forth blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"
The Survivors
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 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 transferred to 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.
Increasing Allegations
This action comes after the dismissal of similar testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now assert they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes making a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to admit your error and apologise."
"People who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
