Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Statements.

A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged antisemitic comments he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.

The political party leader has said he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The letter puts forth blunt questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal stories from the Nazi genocide.

• 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 spending 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 freed.

The remaining survivors include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This action follows the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, additional former pupils have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.

Additional Claims

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."

"People who seek to govern our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."