Franklin Littell

Who was Franklin Littell?

Franklin Hamlin Littell was an American Protestant scholar. He is known for his writings rejecting supersessionism and, in light of the Holocaust, advocated educational programs to improve relations between Christians and Jews.

After spending nearly ten years in post-war Germany as Chief Protestant Religious Adviser in the High Command assigned especially to the task of deNazification during the occupation, he was deeply affected by the atrocities that had been committed during World War II, and thus dedicated his life to researching the Holocaust and bringing its tragic lessons in human rights to widespread public attention. In public meetings, on campuses and in churches, he raised one of the first voices of conscience in the post-war period, talking about the lessons of the Holocaust. Littell is regarded by some as a founder of the field of Holocaust studies, having established at several institutions masters and doctoral programs devoted to study of the Holocaust.

In his book Historical Atlas of Christianity, first published in 1976, he maintained that many Christian churches failed to deal honestly with their complicity in the murder of European Jews.