Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Remarks.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter puts forth blunt questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This action is a response to the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now assert they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", on occasion adding a hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally come forward with stories of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The final appeal asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? If you did say them, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."
"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
