Shoah Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Statements.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his time at school.
The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never targeted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "schoolyard talk".
"Being Shoah survivors, we grasp the grave risk of words of hatred – for we have witnessed where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a letter.
"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not ever."
An Unequivocal Demand
The document asks straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to antisemitic abuse?"
Those Who Signed
The collective of 11 survivors features individuals with devastating personal experiences from the Holocaust.
- Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
- Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and living through the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to 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 intervention follows the rejection of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.
Following the publication, further individuals from that era have come forward. 28 former pupils and teachers now state they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One well-known account 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 "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.
A Broader Pattern
Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have also spoken publicly with allegations of personal harassment.
- Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were without intent.
- Another student of Asian heritage characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was right" as a form of "ethnic harassment".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The missive from survivors asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are fabricating their stories? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by race or religion. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
