🔗 Share this article Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments. A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for reported antisemitic comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." An Unequivocal Demand The letter asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "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 anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences 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 in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Increasing Allegations This action comes after the characterisation of similar testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure. Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times including a hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The final appeal poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends." "Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for reported antisemitic comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "Being Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter. "It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." An Unequivocal Demand The letter asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "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 anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences 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 in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Increasing Allegations This action comes after the characterisation of similar testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure. Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times including a hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. Further Allegations Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The final appeal poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends." "Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."