Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for reported antisemitic abuse he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his time at school.

The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not ever."

A Direct Question

The correspondence asks blunt 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 subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of 11 survivors includes individuals with devastating personal stories 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 breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to 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 public letter is a response to the rejection of similar allegations by more than several dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.

Since the initial report, additional former pupils have come forward. Twenty-eight former pupils and teachers now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.

Further Allegations

Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise shared experiences with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "Paki" and has rejected the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

A Concluding Demand

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to admit your error and apologise."

"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is your own, Mr Farage."