Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Remarks.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere."
A Direct Question
The correspondence puts forth straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Signatories
The group of eleven survivors features individuals with devastating personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to 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.
Mounting Testimony
This action follows the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.
After the story broke, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent 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 final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
