Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.
A group of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The document asks straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors includes individuals with harrowing 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 living through the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
The remaining survivors 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 characterisation of corroborating allegations by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
After the story broke, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now assert they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Ultimate Question
The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."
"Those who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances sow discord by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
