Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The document puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending 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.
The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Growing Accounts
This public letter follows the characterisation of similar testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, more contemporaries have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.
One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise."
"People who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
