🔗 Share this article Shoah Survivors Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Comments. A collective of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days. The political party leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of hateful words – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive. "It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The document asks blunt questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This action follows the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure. Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they witnessed bigoted conduct by him. One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise come forward with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were without intent. Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Survivors' Final Appeal The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise." "People who seek to govern our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."
A collective of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologise for alleged anti-Jewish comments attributed to him toward Jewish students during his school days. The political party leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of hateful words – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive. "It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere." A Direct Question The document asks blunt questions to the public figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family. Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war concealed. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This action follows the characterisation of corroborating testimony by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure. Since the initial report, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they witnessed bigoted conduct by him. One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers. Additional Claims Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise come forward with allegations of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was branded a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were without intent. Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Survivors' Final Appeal The survivors' letter asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise." "People who seek to govern our country should never sow discord by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about personal accountability. The decision is your own, Mr Farage."