EDEN CONFIDENTIAL: Roald Dahl museum puts up sign to say that it ‘deeply apologises’ for the iconic children’s author’s anti-Semitism
When Roald Dahl’s estate apologised for his antisemitism in 2020, it was seen by some as an attempt to pave the way for a lucrative reinvention of the children author’s beloved works.
The following year, it was announced that American streaming giant Netflix had bought control of the books, including Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Matilda, from the Dahl estate in a reported $500million (£415million) deal and was planning new adaptations of the works.
Now, I learn that the Roald Dahl museum and Story Centre, in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, is to put up a panel at its entrance declaring that the racism of the Tales of the Unexpected creator was ‘undeniable and indelible’. The charity says it ‘deeply apologises’ for the impact of his antisemitism.
The author of The BFG and Fantastic Mr. Fox was a ‘contradictory person’, it says. ‘He could be kind…however, there are also recorded impacts of him being very unkind and worse, including writing and saying antisemitic things about Jewish people.’
The author of The BFG and Fantastic Mr. Fox was a ‘contradictory person’, it says
Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said the museum engaged with it ‘in good faith’
It insists that Dahl’s ‘creative legacy is an important part of the heritage of English literature, but importantly does not mean flawless’.
Before his death in 1990 aged 74, Dahl admitted that he had ‘become antisemitic’. In a notorious interview with the New Statesman in 1983, he said: ‘There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity’. He said: ‘Even a stinker like Hitler didn’t pick on them for no reason.’
Referring to Israel’s actions, Dahl claimed that Jews had ‘switched so rapidly from victims to barbarous murderers’, He alleged that the USA was ‘so utterly dominated by the great Jewish financial institutions’ that the country ‘dare not defy Israel’.
The museum worked on its apology with Jewish organisations, including the Board of Deputies, the Antisemitism Policy Trust, and the Communities Securities Trust.
Danny Stone, chief executive of the Antisemitism Policy Trust, said the museum engaged with it ‘in good faith’, adding that ‘the desire of staff to educate themselves on antisemitism’ was clear.
Plans to celebrate Dahl’s work with a commemorative coin were dropped in 2018 because of concerns at the Royal Mint over his antisemitism. It said he was ‘not regarded as an author of the highest reputation’.
Source: Read Full Article