Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.

"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to bigoted harassment?"

The Survivors

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to 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.

Mounting Testimony

This intervention follows the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now assert they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "Paki" and has rejected the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? 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 sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."