Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.

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

A Pointed Inquiry

The correspondence asks direct 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 anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Survivors

The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic 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 spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Increasing Allegations

This public letter follows the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now claim they saw bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", on occasion including a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also shared experiences with stories of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "Paki" and has rejected the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."

"People who seek to govern our country should never divide people by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."