Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Comments.

A coalition of Shoah survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and apologise for reported anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his youth.

The political party leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with the aim to hurt, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"Being Holocaust survivors, we understand the profound danger of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words inevitably end," wrote the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: lauding Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not ever."

A Direct Question

The document asks straightforward questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

Those Who Signed

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war concealed.
• 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.

Increasing Allegations

This action follows the rejection of similar accounts by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight ex-students and educators now state they observed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", on occasion including a long hiss to mimic the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment".

The Ultimate Question

The survivors' letter asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If the words were spoken, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."

"Individuals who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances create division by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."