Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Statements.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever."

An Unequivocal Demand

The correspondence asks blunt questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to antisemitic abuse?"

The Survivors

The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with devastating personal histories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 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 deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Increasing Allegations

This action follows the characterisation of related testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw bigoted conduct by him.

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

Additional Claims

More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"Those who seek to govern our country should never divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."