Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Statements.
A collective of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported anti-Jewish comments he is said to have made toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with the aim to hurt, proposing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of hateful words – for we have seen where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a letter.
"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not teasing. Not in a playground. Not ever."
A Direct Question
The correspondence puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.
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 rejection of similar allegations by more than two dozen former pupils and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure.
Since the initial report, further individuals from that era have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now assert they witnessed bigoted conduct by him.
One prominent allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes making a hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
More individuals from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with allegations of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was branded a "racial slur" and has rejected the notion that such actions were without intent.
- Another student of Asian heritage 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 survivors' letter puts forth an ultimate dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"Individuals who hope to lead our country should never create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."
