Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Comments.

A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his school days.

The political party leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The letter puts forth blunt questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This public letter follows the rejection of similar allegations by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now claim they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The final appeal puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."

"Those who seek to govern our country should not ever sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."