Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."

A Direct Question

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

The Survivors

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Nazi genocide.

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

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

Increasing Allegations

This action comes after the characterisation of related allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they saw bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise."

"People who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."