🔗 Share this article Shoah Survivors Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks. A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Shoah survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a missive. "We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The letter poses direct questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder 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 concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued. 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 action follows the rejection of similar testimony by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official. Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have also spoken publicly with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The survivors' letter poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends." "People who hope to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Shoah survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his youth. The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing". "As Shoah survivors, we grasp the grave risk of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a missive. "We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The letter poses direct questions to the public figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your classmates to anti-Jewish taunts?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Nazi genocide. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder 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 concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued. 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 action follows the rejection of similar testimony by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a high-ranking official. Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now claim they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One notable testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would approach him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims More individuals from minority ethnic backgrounds have also spoken publicly with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "racial intimidation". A Concluding Demand The survivors' letter poses a final dilemma to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, do you mean that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends." "People who hope to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."