Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments.
A group of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.
"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Direct Question
The document poses direct questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to 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 freed.
Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Mounting Testimony
This action comes after the characterisation of related testimony by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of gas chambers.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with stories of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
