Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported antisemitic abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The correspondence asks direct questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Holocaust.

• 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 in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This intervention comes after the dismissal of similar allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with allegations of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."

"Those who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."