Shoah Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Alleged Anti-Jewish Comments.

A group of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he reportedly directed toward Jewish pupils during his time at school.

The political party leader has claimed he never targeted anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"As Shoah survivors, we understand the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," stated the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Pointed Inquiry

The document asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your peers to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

The collective of eleven survivors includes individuals with harrowing personal histories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before escaping in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at 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.

Mounting Testimony

This intervention comes after the characterisation of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.

Since the initial report, more contemporaries have shared their stories. 28 ex-students and educators now assert they observed bigoted conduct by him.

One well-known account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would come near him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", sometimes including a prolonged hissing sound to simulate the sound of the gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have additionally spoken publicly with accounts of personal harassment.

• Cyrus Oshidar claimed he was called a "Paki" 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 right" as a form of "racial intimidation".

The Ultimate Question

The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, do you mean that dozens of individuals are not telling the truth? If you did say them, now is the moment to admit your error and make amends."

"People who aspire to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."