Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks.
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has said he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have witnessed where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a missive.
"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
A Pointed Inquiry
The correspondence poses straightforward 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 classmates to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
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 intervention follows the dismissal of corroborating allegations by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also spoken publicly with stories of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Ultimate Question
The missive from survivors poses a final dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry."
"People who aspire to lead our country should never create division by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
