Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for reported antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document puts forth direct questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

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

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred 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.

Increasing Allegations

This intervention follows the characterisation of similar testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times including a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from ethnic minorities have also spoken publicly with stories of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were without intent.
• Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The missive from survivors poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to admit your error and make amends."

"People who aspire to lead our country should never create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."