Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Statements.

A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for reported antisemitic 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, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not ever."

An Unequivocal Demand

The correspondence poses blunt questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors features individuals with devastating 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 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 transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

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 follows the characterisation of related testimony by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now assert they saw bigoted conduct by him.

One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with stories of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The final appeal puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the time to admit your error and apologise."

"Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."