Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The document poses blunt questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to bigoted harassment?"
The Signatories
The group of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in 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 incarcerated at 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.
Increasing Allegations
This intervention is a response to the rejection of related allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times including a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from ethnic minorities have also shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."
"People who seek to govern our country should not ever create division by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."