🔗 Share this article Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks. A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days. The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter poses straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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. Increasing Allegations This intervention is a response to the dismissal of related accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were devoid of malice. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". A Concluding Demand The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Those who hope to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days. The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter poses straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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. Increasing Allegations This intervention is a response to the dismissal of related accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were devoid of malice. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". A Concluding Demand The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Those who hope to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."