Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Remarks.
A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.
"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The document poses straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal histories 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 concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent 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.
Growing Accounts
This action follows the characterisation of related accounts by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, further individuals from that era have come forward. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now claim they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes making a hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.
Additional Claims
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with stories of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Ultimate Question
The final appeal poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."
"Individuals who seek to govern our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
