Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Reported Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for reported antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The document puts forth direct questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"

The Signatories

The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust.

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

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 intervention follows the characterisation of related testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.

After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. 28 former pupils and teachers now claim they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a long hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with stories of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

A Concluding Demand

The final appeal asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If you did say them, now is the moment to take responsibility and apologise."

"Those who seek to govern our country should never create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."