Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Reported Antisemitic Statements.

A coalition of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged anti-Jewish comments he reportedly directed toward Jewish students during his school days.

The political party leader has claimed he never insulted anyone with malicious intent, suggesting it may have been mere "childish teasing".

"Being Shoah survivors, we grasp the profound danger of bigoted language – for we have experienced firsthand where such words ultimately lead," declared the survivors in a missive.

"It is crucial to understand: expressing admiration for Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not teasing. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The letter poses straightforward questions to the political figure: "Are the claims accurate that you stated ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

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

• Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her family.
• Simon Winston, who was confined to a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and living through the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred 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.

Mounting Testimony

This intervention follows the dismissal of corroborating accounts by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, additional former pupils have spoken out. 28 people connected to the school now claim they saw prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a teenage Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes including a long hiss to simulate the sound of gas chambers.

A Broader Pattern

More individuals from diverse backgrounds have also spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "Paki" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were not meant to hurt.
• Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "open racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying".

The Survivors' Final Appeal

The missive from survivors poses a final challenge to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that 20 former classmates and teachers are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to acknowledge you were wrong and apologise."

"Those who aspire to lead our country should never create division by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The decision is yours, Mr Farage."