Holocaust Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A group of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported anti-Jewish taunts attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive.

"We must be unambiguous: lauding Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not among children. Not anywhere."

An Unequivocal Demand

The letter asks direct questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal stories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved 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 as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued.

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

Mounting Testimony

This action comes after the rejection of related accounts by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.

After the story broke, additional former pupils have shared their stories. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now assert they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another individual with Asian roots portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Ultimate Question

The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to take responsibility and say sorry."

"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."