What Franklin Did Not Say

Benjamin Franklin thought belief in a Deity, and belief that service to others was the best way to honor the Deity, were among "the essentials of every religion...."  There is no evidence Franklin ever said anything against the Jews or Judaism.  The allegation that Franklin criticized Jews was first raised in February 1934 by William Dudley Pelley's pro-Nazi publication Liberation (Asheville, North Carolina).  Nazi Germany republished this dubious claim in a 1935 edition of Theordor Fritsch's Handbuch der Judenfrage (Handbook on the Jewish Question). For more on the so-called "Franklin Prophecy," consult the ADL or the book by Paul F. Boller, Jr. and John George, They Never Said It: A Book of Fake Quotes, Misquotes, and Misleading Attributions.

MEMRI: Egyptian Clerics Repeat Franklin Prophecy Myth, Call the Jews "Donkeys" and "Apes and Pigs," and Say: Making Our Children Loathe the Jews Is a Form of Worship of Allah