Holocaust Victims Demand Nigel Farage to Say Sorry Over Claimed Anti-Jewish Remarks.

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

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

"As Holocaust survivors, we understand the deadly peril of bigoted language – because we have seen where such words ultimately lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.

"Let us be clear: praising Hitler, mimicking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."

A Direct Question

The document puts forth direct questions to the public figure: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you expose your peers to bigoted harassment?"

Those Who Signed

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

• Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
• Simon Winston, who was imprisoned in a ghetto before breaking out in 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
• Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later transferred to Bergen-Belsen, where she was liberated.

The remaining survivors 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 dismissal of related testimony by more than two dozen or more former pupils and teachers as "complete fiction" by a senior party figure.

Following the publication, more contemporaries have shared their stories. Twenty-eight people connected to the school now claim they observed prejudiced actions by him.

One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who has stated that a young Farage would sidle up to him and utter the phrases "Hitler was right" and "gas them", at times including a hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas.

A Broader Pattern

Additional alumni from diverse backgrounds have also shared experiences with stories of direct abuse.

• Cyrus Oshidar said he was branded a "racial slur" and has dismissed the notion that such actions were without intent.
• Another individual with Asian roots described him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".

A Concluding Demand

The survivors' letter poses a final challenge to Farage: "If you deny saying those words, are you claiming that dozens of individuals are lying? Should the allegations be true, now is the time to take responsibility and apologise."

"People who hope to lead our country should never sow discord by ethnicity or faith. Antisemitic hatred must always be confronted. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is your own, Mr Farage."