Shoah Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Holocaust survivors, we grasp the profound danger of words of hatred – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not among children. Not anywhere."

A Pointed Inquiry

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

The Signatories

The group of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• 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 public letter follows the characterisation of related testimony by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have also spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "racial slur" and has rejected the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."

"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."