🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments. A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter. "We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The document puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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 action comes after the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they observed bigoted conduct by him. One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have also shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The final appeal asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends." "Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter. "We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The document puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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 action comes after the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they observed bigoted conduct by him. One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have also shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The final appeal asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends." "Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."