Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks.

A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish taunts attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his school days.

The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The letter poses direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Nazi genocide.

• 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 spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred 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.

Growing Accounts

This public letter comes after the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were without intent.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should not ever divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."