Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks.
A collective of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing 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 confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to 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.
Increasing Allegations
This action follows the dismissal of similar allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now claim they saw bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."
"People who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
