Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish students during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," declared the survivors in a missive.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."

A Pointed Inquiry

The correspondence poses direct questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The group of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to 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 intervention is a response to the characterisation of similar allegations by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, further individuals from that era have come forward. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now claim they saw bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-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 prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

A Concluding Demand

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."

"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."