"His racism is undeniable and indelible": the Roald Dahl Museum condemns the anti-Semitism of its author

"The Dahl family and the Roald Dahl Story Company deeply apologize for the lasting and understandable hurt caused by Roald Dahl's anti-Semitic statements." The statement is unambiguous and published on the website of the London museum dedicated to the writer. Like the artist's family, the Roald Dahl Museum recognizes and strongly condemns in a press release the stereotypical and anti-Semitic remarks made by the author.

The British institution reiterates its commitment to greater inclusiveness and has joined forces with several Jewish associations to train its staff in the fight against anti-Semitism.

Roald Dahl, a fixture in the libraries of many children around the world, died in 1990 at the age of 74. He is the author, among other books, of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, James and the Big Peach. Several of his works have been adapted for cinema, resulting in films that have met with enormous success.

But the author is also known for having made anti-Semitic remarks, notably in an interview with the British magazine New Statesman in 1983. He had legitimized anti-Semitism and seemed to find justifications for Hitler. These comments had a direct impact on the legacy of the author who died in 1990, and led to his family publicly apologizing in 2020.

In a statement, his museum, which is a charity, "condemns all racism, including anti-Semitism, directed against any group or individual."

"Roald Dahl's racism is undeniable and indelible, but what we hope to be able to endure is the potential of Dahl's creative legacy to do good," writes the institution, which claims to condemn "all racism directed against any group or individual ".

The cultural institution, which aims to reveal to its visitors the creativity and imagination of the British author, promises not to repeat "publicly Dahl's anti-Semitic statements", but indicates that it will keep "a record of what he wrote and said in the museum's collection so that it is not forgotten".

The statement will be posted at the entrance to the museum, which is in Great Missenden in Buckinghamshire. It also appears on its website.

“Since 2021, we have reached out to several Jewish community organizations. (...) This process includes training of our staff and our administrators provided by the Antisemitism Policy Trust” in order to develop resources for schools, writes the museum.

“We want to continue to listen and discuss in order to explore how our organization could further contribute to the fight against hate and prejudice, by supporting the work of experts who are already working in this field, including those in the Jewish community.”

In February, the announcement of a smoothing of new editions of Roald Dahl's books, in order to remove terms deemed offensive on subjects such as weight, gender, race and mental health, caused an outcry. The British publisher had finally announced that it would continue to publish the original versions in a special collection.