Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.

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

"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.

"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The correspondence asks blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

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

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

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

Increasing Allegations

This action follows the dismissal of similar testimony 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 come forward. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now state they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", sometimes adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally shared experiences with allegations of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate challenge 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 apologise."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."