One hundred years may have passed since Roald Dahl was born, but it remains impossible to imagine a literary world without characters he created such as Willy Wonka, Matilda, and the BFG.

Yet despite him being widely acknowledged as one of the world’s best storytellers, few will use the landmark date to highlight the darker, less child-friendly, side of the novelist.

Dahl appeared to publicly express contempt for Jews on more than one occasion - a fact even some of his biggest fans may not be aware of.

This may have something to do with the fact his more dubious views were omitted from many of his obituaries and there is something of a historical amnesia about his more controversial opinions.

Roald Dahl's best quotes

In the direct aftermath of his death in 1990, Abe Foxman, the head of the former Anti-Defamation League, an organisation which works to stop the defamation of the Jewish people, criticised The New York Times for failing to touch upon his bigoted views.

“Praise for Mr Dahl as a writer must not obscure the fact that he was also a bigot,” Foxman said in a letter penned to the editor.

In 1982, he said the Israeli invasion of Lebanon marked the moment when “we all started hating the Israelis”.

Comparing Israel to Nazi Germany, he asked: ”Must Israel, like Germany, be brought to her knees before she learns how to behave in this world?”

In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Show all 12 1 /12 In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Willy Wonka from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Willy Wonka (pictured being played by Gene Wilder in 1967) is a bizarre and slightly unsettling man but who can say no to that delicious chocolate? Getty In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters The Oompa Loompas from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' Despite the characters' questionable evolution from being African pygmies in early editions of the novel, the Oompa Loompas were so fantastical they captured the imagination of generations. The first film's version of the characters are still a popular fancy dress theme. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Veruca Salt from 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' The girl who "wants it now" is so incredibly vile she ended up in the rubbish after being judged a bad nut by Willy Wonka's squirrels. An American alternative rock band even took her name. YouTube In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters The Twits from 'The Twits' Mr and Mrs Twit are horrible, hideous and hateful, coating trees with glue to catch birds to at. But the Roly-Poly Bird and Muggle-Wumps teach them a lesson in the end. Quentin Blake/House of Illustration In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters James from 'James and the Giant Peach' James is beaten and starved by his cruel aunts after his parents are eaten by an escaped rhino but eventually gets to go on an adventure with the friends he has always waited for on his magic peach, ending up on the top of the Empire State Building. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Matilda from 'Matilda' Every little girl who read 'Matilda' wondered what it would be like to be the main character. Apart from th abusive family, the telekinesis must be endless fun. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Miss Trunchbull from 'Matilda' Miss Trunchbull, played by Pam Ferris in the 1996 film, is the aunt and headmistress of every child's worst nightmares. Just think of poor Bruce Bogtrotter and that cake. YouTube In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters The Big Friendly Giant from 'The BFG' A 24-foot-tall BFG works giving out good dreams to children and saves them all from people-eating giants. Shame about the snozzcumbers. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters The Grand High Witch from 'The Witches' The Grand High Witch, seen here in the film, must be one of Dahl's most terrifying creations. Turning children into slugs and squishing them, she wanted to destroy them all, she had no hair or toes and claws for hands. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Mr Fox from 'Fantastic Mr Fox' Mr Fox outsmarts those silly farmers, feeding his family by killing their chickens and avoiding starvation. In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters George from 'George's Marvellous Medicine' Some people would say that swapping your gran's medicine with poison isn't ok but that isn't the point here. YouTube In pictures: Roald Dahl's most enduring characters Grandma from 'George's Marvellous Medicine' Grandma was quite a character until she vanished: 'She was selfish grumpy old woman. She had pale brown teeth and a small pucker-up mouth like a dog's bottom.' YouTube

His remarks triggered anger, with some accusing him of antisemitism.

Nevertheless, his subsequent interview with the New Statesman only exacerbated matters.

Dahl said: ”There is a trait in the Jewish character that does provoke animosity, maybe it's a kind of lack of generosity towards non-Jews.

"I mean, there's always a reason why anti-anything crops up anywhere; even a stinker like Hitler didn't just pick on them for no reason.”

“I mean, if you and I were in a line moving towards what we knew were gas chambers, I'd rather have a go at taking one of the guards with me; but they [the Jews] were always submissive,” he also said.

A later interview with The Independent in 1990, eight months before his death, did little to salvage the situation.

“I'm certainly anti-Israel and I've become antisemitic inasmuch as that you get a Jewish person in another country like England strongly supporting Zionism,” he said.

Despite directing The BFG, which came out in 2016, Stephen Spielberg is another person who, until recently, remained wholly unaware of Dahl’s controversial views.

“I wasn't aware of any of Ronald Dahl's personal stories,“ the Jewish filmmaker told a press conference during this year’s Cannes Film Festival when asked about his knowledge of the late author's views. ”I was focused on this story he wrote.”