Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days.
The political party leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," 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 in a playground. Not anywhere."
A Pointed Inquiry
The correspondence puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
The Survivors
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was confined to 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 moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.
Other signatories 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 similar allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.
One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times adding a long hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.
Further Allegations
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
A Concluding Demand
The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."
"Individuals who seek to govern our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."