🔗 Share this article Holocaust Survivors Urge Nigel Farage to Apologise Over Alleged Antisemitic Statements. A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter. "We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Pointed Inquiry The document poses direct questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention comes after the rejection of similar allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have also shared experiences with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends." "Those who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
A collective of Holocaust survivors has called for that Nigel Farage admit the facts and apologise for reported antisemitic abuse attributed to him toward Jewish pupils during his time at school. The Reform UK leader has previously stated he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, suggesting it may have been mere "playground banter". "As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the grave risk of bigoted language – because we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," declared the survivors in a letter. "We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, jeering at gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances." A Pointed Inquiry The document poses direct questions to the political figure: "Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ and mimicked gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?" The Signatories The group of eleven survivors features individuals with deeply traumatic personal experiences from the Holocaust. Hedi Argent, who saw the murder of 27 members of her family. Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive. Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was imprisoned at Auschwitz-Birkenau and later incarcerated at Bergen-Belsen, where she was rescued. Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi. Growing Accounts This intervention comes after the rejection of similar allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "complete fiction" by a high-ranking official. Following the publication, more contemporaries have spoken out. 28 former pupils and teachers now assert they witnessed racist or antisemitic behaviour by him. One prominent account comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a teenage Farage would approach him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "gas them", sometimes including a long hiss to mimic the sound of poison gas. A Broader Pattern Additional alumni from minority ethnic backgrounds have also shared experiences with stories of personal harassment. Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "Paki" and has labelled as rubbish the claim that such actions were without intent. Another pupil of Asian descent characterised him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell was correct" as a form of "racial bullying". The Ultimate Question The survivors' letter poses a final question to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that scores of witnesses are not telling the truth? Should the allegations be true, now is the opportunity to take responsibility and make amends." "Those who hope to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Antisemitic hatred must never become acceptable. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."