Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
An Unequivocal Demand
The correspondence asks direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
The Survivors
The collective of eleven survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories 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 escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Mounting Testimony
This action comes after the characterisation of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.
Following the publication, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", on occasion making a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.
A Broader Pattern
Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with allegations of direct abuse.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Ultimate Question
The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."
"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
