Shoah Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.

A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days.

The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a letter.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The document asks straightforward questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to antisemitic abuse?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

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

Increasing Allegations

This intervention is a response to the dismissal of corroborating allegations by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they saw bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion making a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."