Shoah Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A group of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his time at school.

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

"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."

A Direct Question

The document puts forth straightforward questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Survivors

The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

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 comes after the rejection of similar allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."