Roald Dahl’s family apologises for late author’s anti-Semitic comments
- The British author, who died in 1990, wrote children’s classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, The BFG, Matilda and The Witches
- Family members said comments he made in 1983 about Jewish people were ‘incomprehensible to us’
The British author, who died in 1990 aged 74, remains popular with young readers around the world and several of his books such as The BFG, Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox and most recently The Witches, have been turned into films and stage shows.
However, controversy has occasionally flared up over anti-Semitic comments, particularly those made in a 1983 interview with Britain’s New Statesman magazine.
“There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it’s a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews,” he said, adding that “even a stinker like Hitler didn’t just pick on them for no reason”.
In a statement on the official website of the organisations that manage his legacy, copyrights and trademarks, as well as a museum dedicated to him, the Dahl family apologised for what they said was the lasting and understandable hurt his remarks had caused.