Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Comments.
A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The correspondence puts forth blunt 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 antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The group of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- 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 living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This action follows the rejection of similar accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", on occasion making a hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".
A Concluding Demand
The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"People who hope to lead our country should never divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
