Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.

A group of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The political party leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document puts forth direct 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 anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Survivors

The group of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

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

Increasing Allegations

This public letter follows the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of poison gas.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have also shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim 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".

A Concluding Demand

The missive from survivors poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."

"Those who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."