Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported antisemitic abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not among children. Not ever."

An Unequivocal Demand

The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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.

Mounting Testimony

This public letter is a response to the rejection of related testimony by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now assert they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally shared experiences with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the idea 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 right" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors poses a final question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to take responsibility and make amends."

"Individuals who hope to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."