🔗 Share this article Shoah Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments. A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "Being Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter asks 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 bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her 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 imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. 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 similar accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent. Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry." "Individuals who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school. The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "Being Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter asks 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 bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her 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 imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. 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 similar accounts by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern More individuals from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were without intent. Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and say sorry." "Individuals who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."