Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his time at school.
The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere."
A Direct Question
The correspondence puts forth direct questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to bigoted harassment?"
The Signatories
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.
- 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 imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
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 public letter is a response to the characterisation of corroborating allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, additional former pupils have come forward. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now claim they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
Additional Claims
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."
"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."