Holocaust survivors call on Nigel Farage to apologise over alleged antisemitic comments | Nigel Farage
A group of Holocaust survivors has demanded Nigel Farage tell the truth and apologize for anti-Semitic comments his fellow students at Dulwich College claim he made towards Jewish students.
The Reform UK leader said he had never deliberately made racist abuse towards anyone but said he may have engaged in “playground banter”.
But in a Guardian letter to Farage, the 11 survivors said: “As Holocaust survivors we understand the danger of hateful words because we have seen where such words can lead.
“Let’s be clear: praising Hitler, making fun of gas chambers or making racist abuse is not a joke. Not on the playground, not anywhere.
“When allegations emerge that reference Nazi attitudes towards Jewish children, the responsible response is honesty, reflection, and a commitment to the truth.
“So we ask you: Did you say ‘Hitler was right’ and say ‘gas them’, imitating the gas chambers? Did you subject your classmates to antisemitic abuse?”
Among the survivors is Hedi Argent, who lost 27 members of her family in the Holocaust. Another member of the group, Simon Winston, was held in a ghetto before escaping in September 1942 and spending the rest of the war in hiding.
Another signatory is Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau and spent about a year there. In October 1944 he moved to Bergen-Belsen, where he was liberated by the British in April 1945.
The other eight are Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Their intervention followed comments from Reform UK’s deputy leader, Richard Tice, who described testimony from more than two dozen people as “made-up chatter”.
Since the Guardian published its investigation into Farage two weeks ago, more of his contemporaries have come forward. Twenty-eight former students and teachers say they witnessed racist or anti-Semitic behavior from him at Dulwich College in south London.
Bafta and Emmy-winning Jewish director Peter Ettedgui said the young Farage approached him and said “Hitler was right” and “gas them”, sometimes adding a long hiss to imitate the sound of gas chambers.
Eight other contemporaries made statements confirming Farage’s claim that he targeted Ettedgui at school. Many have recorded this. Only one person, the chairman of the Liberal Democrats in Salisbury, is active in party politics.
Among the new schoolmates who have come to the fore since the Guardian’s first story is Nick Hearn. The banker, who describes himself as a “conservative with a small c”, said he had seen Ettedgui regularly abused by the Reform leader and called on him to “explain”.
Tice told BBC Radio 4’s Today program Ettedgui was a liar and the former students who had come forward had a “political ax to grind”.
Survivors asked Farage if he said Ettedgui and others were lying because he denied abusing Ettedgui.
They said: “If you deny that you said those words, are you saying that 20 of your former classmates and teachers are lying? If so, it’s time to admit you were wrong and apologize.”
“Those who hope to lead our country should never divide people based on race or religion. Antisemitic hatred should never be normalised. This moment is about moral responsibility. The choice is yours, Mr Farage.”
Other former students from minority ethnic backgrounds said Farage directly harassed them. These include Cyrus Oshidar, who said Farage would call him “Paki” and called the claim that Farage did not act with intent to harm “ridiculous”.
Another student of Asian descent, who was in the same year as Farage, described him as an open racist who said “Enoch Powell was right” as a form of “racial intimidation”.
Reformation England has been approached for comment.
