Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Comments.
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.
The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not among children. Not ever."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter asks 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 fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal histories from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
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 comes after the characterisation of corroborating allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.
After the story broke, more contemporaries have come forward. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming 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."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
