Jewish widower of Auschwitz survivor accuses SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford of ‘ignorance’ by comparing EU withdrawal arrangements to the Holocaust
- SNP’s Ian Blackford compared EU withdrawal arrangements to the Holocaust
- The widower of an Auschwitz survivor accused the MP of ‘ignorance’
- Ezra Golombok said Jews in Scotland who survived pogroms would be offended
The widower of an Auschwitz survivor has accused SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford of ‘ignorance’ by comparing EU withdrawal arrangements to the Holocaust.
Ezra Golombok, 96, said Jews in Scotland who had survived the Nazi pogroms would be ‘offended’.
Mr Blackford faced a call to quit from the Judeo-Christian Alliance campaign group after sharing a Twitter message in which a user said their family would have to ‘register’ for settled status after Brexit, suggesting the last time they had to do so was in Nazi Germany.
Yesterday, a charity which monitors anti-Semitism also condemned the Ross, Skye and Lochaber MP’s remarks as ‘ill-judged’.
Ian Blackford faced a call to quit from the Judeo-Christian Alliance campaign group after sharing a Twitter message in which a user said their family would have to ‘register’ for settled status after Brexit, suggesting the last time they had to do so was in Nazi Germany
Ezra Golombok (left), 96, said Jews in Scotland who had survived the Nazi pogroms would be ‘offended’. Right: Mr Golombok on his wedding day with Hungarian wife, Susan, who was sent to Auschwitz
Mr Golombok, of Newton Mearns, East Renfrewshire, has personal experience of the atrocities endured by Jews. His Hungarian wife, Susan, was sent to Auschwitz, where 1.1million men, women and children were murdered.
Mr Golombok’s wife survived the war and died in 2005 but he said her mother and other relatives were sent to the gas chamber.
He added: ‘What Mr Blackford has shown is ignorance. I don’t think he has any concept what people had to put up with under the Nazis. A politician should have the wisdom not to make false comparisons and ill-considered comments.
‘Of course it is offensive. People in Scotland who survived the concentration camps will be offended by what he has said.’
The row follows the online publication by the Home Office of a video urging EU nationals to apply for settled status ‘if they want to stay in the UK’ following Brexit.
Mr Golombok said: ‘What Mr Blackford has shown is ignorance. I don’t think he has any concept what people had to put up with under the Nazis. A politician should have the wisdom not to make false comparisons and ill-considered comments’
In response, an anonymous Twitter user shared an image of an elderly person’s arm bearing a tattooed identification number, appearing to be one given to people in Nazi concentration camps.
The user wrote: ‘The last time my family qualified for registration and “settled status”.’
Sharing the post, Mr Blackford said: ‘The UK Tory Government need to reflect on what they are doing and why so many feel their approach to EU nationals is so repugnant.’
Mark Gardner, of charity Community Security Trust, which monitors anti-Semitism, said: ‘To infer comparison between Brexit and the Holocaust is lazy, highly offensive and ill-judged.’
Last night an SNP spokesman declined to comment.