Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements.
A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we grasp the profound danger of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The document poses direct questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The collective of 11 survivors contains 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 imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported 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.
Mounting Testimony
This action comes after the rejection of related accounts by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have also shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If you did say them, now is the time to take responsibility and make amends."
"Those who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances create division by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
