Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

An Unequivocal Demand

The letter puts forth blunt questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

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

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her 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 incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This public letter follows the dismissal of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.

After the story broke, more contemporaries have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes adding a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"People who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."