🔗 Share this article Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Anti-Jewish Remarks. A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days. The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever." A Direct Question The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention comes after the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw bigoted conduct by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern More individuals from ethnic minorities have also come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to admit your error and say sorry." "People who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his school days. The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter. "It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever." A Direct Question The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention comes after the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw bigoted conduct by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern More individuals from ethnic minorities have also come forward with accounts of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter asks a concluding challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to admit your error and say sorry." "People who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."