Family of Roald Dahl apologises for anti-Semitic remarks

Relatives say comments from 1983 interview by writer of classic children’s tales were incomprehensible to them

The familiy of writer Roald Dahl has apologised for anti-Semitic comments he made before he died in 1990. Ronald Dumont/Daily Express

The family of Roald Dahl, the late author of children's classics such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, apologised for anti-Semitic remarks he made, saying the comments were "incomprehensible to us".

The British author, who died in 1990 aged 74, is 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. "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 and a museum dedicated to him, the Dahl family apologised for what they said was the lasting and understandable hurt his remarks had caused.

"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," they said.

"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 director Steven Spielberg was asked about the anti-Semitic comments in 2016, when he was at the Cannes film festival promoting his adaptation of The BFG.

Mr Spielberg said he had been unaware of the comments when he took on the project, and that the book was about embracing differences and that was the value he had sought to impart in telling the story.

Other high-profile adaptations of Mr Dahl's works include two big-budget movie versions of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of Fantastic Mr Fox, and a stage musical version of Matilda that was a hit in London and on Broadway.

A new movie version of The Witches, directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Anne Hathaway as the Grand High Witch, was recently released on HBO Max by studio Warner Brothers.