A group of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for reported antisemitic comments attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has said he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"Being Shoah survivors, we grasp the deadly peril of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a missive.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not among children. Not under any circumstances."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter poses direct questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- 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 as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to 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.
Increasing Allegations
This action comes after the rejection of related testimony by more than two dozen or more ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, more contemporaries have spoken out. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they witnessed prejudiced actions by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would come near him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times adding a prolonged hissing sound to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have also come forward with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were devoid of malice.
- Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".
The Ultimate Question
The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the opportunity to admit your error and say sorry."
"Individuals who seek to govern our country should under no circumstances sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
