🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks. A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not anywhere." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence poses direct questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?" Those Who Signed The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to 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 intervention comes after the dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. After the story broke, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". A Concluding Demand The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise." "Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not anywhere." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence poses direct questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?" Those Who Signed The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to 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 intervention comes after the dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. After the story broke, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". A Concluding Demand The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and apologise." "Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."