By Austin J. App, 1902-1984
Comment by Keith Stimely
One of the titanic figures of post war revisionist historiography, Professor Austin J. App, died of kidney failure on 4 May 1984. A well-established author and scholar of English literature at the outbreak of World War II, Dr. App was soon appalled at the human suffering and political disaster caused by that unnecessary conflict, and for the next four decades he was in the very forefront of those courageous scholars who, often in the face of severe academic and press hostility, sought to determine the historical truth about the war, and to publicise that truth far and wide.
Austin J. App was born and educated in Wisconsin, Maryland, USA. and holds an M.A. and a Ph.D. degree in English literature from the Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He was an instructor and professor of English at several colleges, including the Catholic University, the University of Scranton and LaSalle College. He has written hundreds of articles and reviews, eight books and has published many pamphlets.
In 1939 he was awarded the University of Scranton Gold medal as an outstanding educator of men. In 1940-41 he was president of the Debating Association of Pennsylvania Colleges. In 1941 he was the co-founder of the review magazine Best Sellers. For ten years he was chairman of the Pastorius Unit of the Steuben Society, Philadelphia; for six years National President of the Federation of American Citizens of German Descent. He was on the speakers bureau of the John Birch Society. He was an honorary member of the German-American National Congress. For several years he was chairman of the Greater Philadelphia Captive Nations Committee. He considered that the liberation of those nations, including the Soviet Zone of Germany, and the dissolution of Russian Colonialism as the only hope for preventing World War Three.
