Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to bigoted harassment?"

The Survivors

The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

The remaining survivors 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 dismissal of similar testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now claim they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes including a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from diverse backgrounds have likewise come forward with allegations of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another student of Asian heritage portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."