Shoah Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."

A Direct Question

The document asks direct questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Survivors

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

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending 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 freed.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This public letter comes after the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes including a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally shared experiences with allegations of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to admit your error and apologise."

"Those who seek to govern our country should never create division by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."