Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.

A group of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.

"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The correspondence puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to 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 incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This intervention comes after the rejection of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes adding a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally shared experiences with allegations of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."