Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his time at school.

The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".

"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a letter.

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

A Direct Question

The document poses blunt questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"

The Signatories

The collective of 11 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 imprisoned in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported 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 action is a response to the rejection of corroborating allegations 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. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes adding a prolonged hissing sound to imitate the sound of the gas chambers.

Additional Claims

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also shared experiences with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the time to take responsibility and make amends."

"Those who hope to lead our country should never create division by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."