Shoah Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish abuse attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not anywhere."

A Pointed Inquiry

The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Survivors

The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This public letter comes after the rejection of related accounts by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, further individuals from that era have come forward. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Further Allegations

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."