Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote 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 in a playground. Not ever."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document poses direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

The group of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• 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 intervention follows the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now state they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally come forward with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry."

"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."