Holocaust Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "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 11 survivors includes individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Increasing Allegations

This action comes after the rejection of related allegations by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Following the publication, further individuals from that era have spoken out. 28 ex-students and educators now state they observed 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 sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", on occasion making a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

More individuals from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Ultimate Question

The final appeal puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"People who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."