Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Remarks.

A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not among children. Not anywhere."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document poses straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

Those Who Signed

The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred 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.

Growing Accounts

This public letter is a response to the characterisation of similar accounts by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", on occasion including a hiss to simulate the sound of poison gas.

Further Allegations

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise shared experiences with allegations of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."