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

A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for reported antisemitic abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his youth.

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

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

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not among children. Not anywhere."

An Unequivocal Demand

The document puts forth direct questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to bigoted harassment?"

The Signatories

The collective of eleven survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories 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 living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This intervention comes after the rejection of related allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has rejected the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another pupil of Asian descent described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"People who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."