A collective of Holocaust survivors has publicly demanded that Nigel Farage be honest and express remorse for alleged antisemitic taunts attributed to him toward Jewish schoolmates during his school days.
The political party leader has said he never insulted anyone with deliberate cruelty, framing it may have been mere "childish teasing".
"As Holocaust survivors, we comprehend the deadly peril of hateful words – because we have witnessed where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"We must be unambiguous: expressing admiration for Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or directing racial slurs is not banter. Not in a playground. Not under any circumstances."
The correspondence asks straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ accompanied by mimicking gas chambers? Did you target your fellow pupils to antisemitic abuse?"
The collective of 11 survivors contains individuals with deeply traumatic personal histories from the Holocaust.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
This action follows the rejection of related allegations by more than several dozen alumni and teachers as "made-up twaddle" by a high-ranking official.
After the story broke, further individuals from that era have shared their stories. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw prejudiced actions by him.
One well-known allegation comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born award-winning director, who said that a teenage Farage would come near him and say the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", sometimes making a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
Other former pupils from minority ethnic backgrounds have likewise come forward with accounts of direct abuse.
The missive from survivors puts forth an ultimate challenge to Farage: "Should you continue to deny saying those words, is your position that dozens of individuals are lying? If the words were spoken, now is the opportunity to admit your error and apologise."
"People who hope to lead our country should not ever divide people by race or religion. Anti-Jewish bigotry must never become acceptable. This moment is about personal accountability. The path forward is yours, Mr Farage."
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