Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments.

A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

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

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

An Unequivocal Demand

The correspondence puts forth blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to antisemitic abuse?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• 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.

Increasing Allegations

This intervention is a response to the characterisation of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" 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 was right" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."

"Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."