Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.
A group of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of 11 survivors features 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 imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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.
Mounting Testimony
This action follows the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally shared experiences with stories of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Ultimate Question
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 fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to admit your error and apologise."
"Those who hope to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
