Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Antisemitic Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter asks direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- 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 public letter is a response to the rejection of similar testimony by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now claim they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have also shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- 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 "ethnic harassment".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."
"Those who hope to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
