🔗 Share this article Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Statements. A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The political party leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The letter asks direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal stories from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through 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 rescued. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention follows the rejection of similar testimony by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Ultimate Question The final appeal poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise." "Those who seek to govern our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The political party leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The letter asks direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal stories from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through 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 rescued. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention follows the rejection of similar testimony by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Ultimate Question The final appeal poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise." "Those who seek to govern our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."