Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Remarks.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for reported anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days.

The political party leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of hateful words – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever."

A Pointed Inquiry

The correspondence asks direct questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.

• Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Mounting Testimony

This public letter comes after the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One notable allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion making a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.

Further Allegations

More individuals from ethnic minorities have also come forward with stories of targeted insults.

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

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to admit your error and apologise."

"Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."