A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged antisemitic comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has said he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
An Unequivocal Demand
The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in 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 transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
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 intervention follows the dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with stories of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The final appeal puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are lying? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
