Shoah Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Statements.

A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.

The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.

"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not among children. Not anywhere."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document asks direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• 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 sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

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 intervention is a response to the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, more contemporaries have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes making a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" 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 challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and say sorry."

"People who aspire to lead our country should not ever create division by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."