Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A collective of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth.

The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of words of hatred – because we have seen where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.

"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not among children. Not anywhere."

A Direct Question

The correspondence poses straightforward questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"

The Survivors

The collective of 11 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 fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved 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 follows the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never create division by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."