🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments. A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence puts forth direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention comes after the characterisation of related accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official. Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have also spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were devoid of malice. Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Ultimate Question The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends." "Those who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence puts forth direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The collective of eleven survivors features individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention comes after the characterisation of related accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official. Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have also spoken publicly with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were devoid of malice. Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Ultimate Question The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends." "Those who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."