Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The political party leader has said he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Shoah survivors, we grasp the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

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

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

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 comes after the characterisation of related testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have also come forward with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"People who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."