🔗 Share this article Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks. A collective of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was confined to 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 liberated. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention follows the rejection of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now claim they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying". A Concluding Demand The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying 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 hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has called for that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth. The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not banter. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever." A Pointed Inquiry The correspondence asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Signatories The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was confined to 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 liberated. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention follows the rejection of similar allegations by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader. After the story broke, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now claim they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying". A Concluding Demand The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying 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 hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."