Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The political party leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The document asks direct questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating 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 escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to 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.

Growing Accounts

This public letter comes after the dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"People who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."