Roald Dahl Museum condemns author’s anti-Semitism

2023-07-19 22:33:07

The British cultural establishment has issued a statement acknowledging and condemning openly anti-Semitic remarks made by the famous children’s author in the 1980s.

The Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden in the UK has publicly acknowledged the famous children’s author’s anti-Semitism in A declaration published on its website and displayed at the entrance of the cultural establishment.

In it, the museum claims that Roald Dahl’s racism is “undeniable and indelible” and that the writer, who died more than 30 years ago, was a contradictory person.

“There were times when he was very rude, or even worse, including writing and making anti-Semitic comments about the Jewish people,” the Roald Dahl Museum continued in its press release.

The establishment also recalls that it condemns “any racism directed against a group or an individual” and ensures that it strives to be “more and more welcoming for those who would like to visit the museum in person or in line”.

family apologies

The creator of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda or The Good Big Giantwho died in 1990, notably made openly anti-Semitic statements in an interview with the British magazine New Statesman in 1983, legitimizing anti-Semitism and seeming to find justifications for Hitler’s crimes.

These comments have long weighed on the legacy of Roald Dahl, whose many children’s books were brought to the screen after his death, including Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in 2005 with Johnny Depp, and Matilda (1996).

The Roald Dahl Museum has pledged not to publicly relay the author’s anti-Semitic statements, but maintains “a record of what he wrote and said in the museum’s collection, so that it is not forgotten” .

In 2020, the family of Roald Dahl and the “Roald Dahl Story company” had also apologized for “the lasting and understandable injuries caused by some of the statements” of the writer.