🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Antisemitic Remarks. A group of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever." An Unequivocal Demand The letter asks direct questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?" Those Who Signed The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories 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 imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Increasing Allegations This action is a response to the characterisation of related allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure. After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him. One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Survivors' Final Appeal The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "People who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
A group of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth. The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever." An Unequivocal Demand The letter asks direct questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?" Those Who Signed The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories 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 imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Increasing Allegations This action is a response to the characterisation of related allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure. After the story broke, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty former pupils and teachers now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him. One notable account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times making a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Survivors' Final Appeal The missive from survivors asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "People who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."