🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks. A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his youth. The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." An Unequivocal Demand The letter poses blunt questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. 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. Mounting Testimony This public letter follows the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader. Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion including a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas. Further Allegations More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Those who aspire to lead our country should never create division by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his youth. The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." An Unequivocal Demand The letter poses blunt questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive. 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. Mounting Testimony This public letter follows the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader. Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion including a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas. Further Allegations More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Those who aspire to lead our country should never create division by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."