Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence asks blunt questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to bigoted harassment?"
The Signatories
The group of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to 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.
Growing Accounts
This public letter comes after the rejection of related allegations by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.
One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes making a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
A Concluding Demand
The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are lying? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise."
"People who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
