Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Comments.

A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.

The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not among children. Not anywhere."

A Direct Question

The document poses straightforward questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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.

Growing Accounts

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

Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now assert they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion including a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the time to admit your error and say sorry."

"Those who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."