Holocaust Victims Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Comments.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage admit the facts and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish abuse he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his school days.

The Reform UK leader has said he never racially abused anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "playground banter".

"Being Shoah survivors, we understand the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words inevitably end," stated the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not anywhere."

A Direct Question

The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the political figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your peers to anti-Jewish taunts?"

The Signatories

The group of eleven survivors includes individuals with devastating personal histories from the Holocaust.

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before escaping 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.

Additional names on the letter include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.

Growing Accounts

This public letter is a response to the characterisation of similar accounts by more than two dozen ex-schoolmates and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a deputy leader.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now state they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.

One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a young Farage would sidle up to him and say the phrases "Hitler was correct" and "gas them", at times adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.

Further Allegations

Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have additionally come forward with allegations of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar stated he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The final appeal poses a final dilemma to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, are you claiming that 20 former classmates and teachers are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to acknowledge you were wrong and make amends."

"People who aspire to lead our country should not ever create division by ethnicity or faith. Hatred of Jews must always be confronted. This moment is about ethical duty. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."