Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Statements.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.

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

"Being Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive.

"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not ever."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document asks direct questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to 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 public letter is a response to the characterisation of corroborating allegations by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, additional former pupils have spoken out. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now claim they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", at times making a hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally come forward with allegations of direct abuse.

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

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should never sow discord by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."