Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Statements.
A collective of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we grasp the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The letter poses direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Signatories
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This action follows the dismissal of related accounts by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. 28 people connected to the school now assert they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes adding a hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.
Further Allegations
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
