Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.

A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Shoah survivors, we grasp the profound danger of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not anywhere."

A Direct Question

The letter asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Survivors

The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with devastating personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

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 action is a response to the rejection of related accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One notable account 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 correct" and "gas them", sometimes including a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."