Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks.
A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we grasp the profound danger of words of hatred – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter asks blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories 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 characterisation of related testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. 28 people connected to the school now state they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
A Concluding Demand
The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."
"People who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
