🔗 Share this article Shoah Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Remarks. A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention follows the dismissal of similar allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure. Following the publication, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now assert 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 say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers. Further Allegations Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise shared experiences with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Survivors' Final Appeal The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Individuals who hope to lead our country should never divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."
A group of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and issue an apology for alleged antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "schoolyard talk". "As Shoah survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have witnessed where such words ultimately lead," stated the survivors in a open letter. "Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or hurling racist abuse is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Direct Question The letter asks blunt questions to the party leader: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?" The Survivors The group of 11 survivors features individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed. Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Mounting Testimony This intervention follows the dismissal of similar allegations by more than two dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a senior party figure. Following the publication, further individuals from that era have spoken out. Nearly thirty people connected to the school now assert 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 say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes adding a hiss to simulate the sound of the gas chambers. Further Allegations Other former pupils from ethnic minorities have likewise shared experiences with stories of targeted insults. Cyrus Oshidar stated he was called a "racial slur" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were not meant to hurt. Another individual with Asian roots characterised him as an "avowed bigot" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "ethnic harassment". The Survivors' Final Appeal The final appeal asks a concluding dilemma to Farage: "By denying saying those words, are you claiming that scores of witnesses are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and say sorry." "Individuals who hope to lead our country should never divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."