Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements.
A group of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The document asks blunt questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"
The Survivors
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred 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 similar testimony 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 people connected to the school now assert they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also come forward with stories of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors poses a final dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."