Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks.
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The correspondence poses blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Signatories
The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
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 comes after the dismissal of corroborating testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes including a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally come forward with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"People who seek to govern our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
