Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not anywhere."

A Pointed Inquiry

The letter poses straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• 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.

Mounting Testimony

This action is a response to the rejection of related testimony by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.

After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have also shared experiences with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the idea 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 had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."

"Those who hope to lead our country should never create division by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."