Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.
The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not anywhere."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence poses straightforward questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.
Additional names on the letter 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 characterisation of related testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise come forward with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the notion that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends."
"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
