Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter.
"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence poses blunt questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to bigoted harassment?"
The Signatories
The collective of 11 survivors includes individuals with devastating personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in 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 transferred 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.
Growing Accounts
This public letter is a response to the dismissal of similar testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have additionally shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to admit your error and make amends."
"People who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."