Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for reported anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish students during his youth.

The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – for we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not among children. Not ever."

A Direct Question

The correspondence asks blunt questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to antisemitic abuse?"

The Signatories

The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with harrowing personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Increasing Allegations

This action is a response to the dismissal of corroborating testimony by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official.

After the story broke, further individuals from that era have come forward. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who said that a young Farage would approach him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "send them to the gas chambers", at times including a long hiss to imitate the sound of poison gas.

Further Allegations

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have likewise shared experiences with stories of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the notion that such actions were devoid of malice.
• Another student of Asian heritage described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, is your position that 20 former classmates and teachers are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to admit your error and make amends."

"People who aspire to lead our country should not ever sow discord by background or belief. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."