🔗 Share this article Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments. A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" Those Who Signed The collective of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. Other signatories 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 similar accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they saw bigoted conduct by him. One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations More individuals from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and say sorry." "People who seek to govern our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" Those Who Signed The collective of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. Other signatories 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 similar accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they saw bigoted conduct by him. One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations More individuals from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The final appeal poses a final challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and say sorry." "People who seek to govern our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."