Roald Dahl's family apologises for his anti-Semitism

Statement released by the author's family says his views caused ‘lasting and understandable hurt’

Famous British novelist Roald Dahl’s family apologised for the author’s anti-Semitic comments, in a note buried deep on his official website, The Guardian reported.

One of the most influential storytellers of the 20^th century, whose books – including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda and The BFG – have entranced children since the 1960s, died 30 years ago.

However, the beloved author was also an anti-Semite which was apparent in the comments he made in an interview with the New Statesman in 1983, the article states.

“There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews. I mean, there’s always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere,” he said during the interview.

Dahl added, “Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason.”

To rectify the situation, his family quietly issued an apology saying, “The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologise for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by some of Roald Dahl’s statements.”

“Those prejudiced remarks are incomprehensible to us and stand in marked contrast to the man we knew and to the values at the heart of Roald Dahl’s stories, which have positively impacted young people for generations,” the family said in a statement.

“We hope that, just as he did at his best, at his absolute worst, Roald Dahl can help remind us of the lasting impact of words,” the statement read.

No mention is made of Dahl’s anti-Semitic views in the author’s official biography on the site. The family’s apology was not sent to Jewish organisations either.

Born in 1916 in Wales to Norwegian parents, Dahl enlisted himself in British Royal Air Force (RAF) during the Second World War. During his war service, he was badly injured when his Gladiator crash-landed in Libya.

Roald Dahl’s published his first book The Gremlins shortly after in 1943. This was followed by James and the Giant Peach in 1961, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 1964 and Fantastic Mr Fox in 1970.

He also co-wrote screenplays for the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, as well as writing adult novels.

Due to the popularity of his books, especially among young readers, many of his stories were adapted as films, for television and on the stage.

In 2018, the latest period for which data exists, Dahl’s estate posted annual pre-tax profits of £12.7m from television and cinema deals, royalties, fancy-dress costumes and a line of baby toiletries.

As well as his notorious interview with the New Statesman, Dahl later acknowledged his antisemitism in an article in the Independent in 1990. “I’m certainly anti-Israeli, and I’ve become anti-Semitic in as much as that you get a Jewish person in another country like England strongly supporting Zionism. I think they should see both sides,” the famed author had said.

“It’s the same old thing: we all know about Jews and the rest of it. There aren’t any non-Jewish publishers anywhere; they control the media – jolly clever thing to do – that’s why the president of the United States has to sell all this stuff to Israel.”

Owing to the concerns about his anti-Semitic views, the Royal Mint dropped plans to celebrate Dahl’s life with a commemorative coin two years ago.

Official papers obtained by the Guardian disclosed that the Royal Mint concluded he was “not regarded as an author of the highest reputation”.