# Austin App
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{{Short description|Professor of literature and Holocaust denier (1902–1984)}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Austin Joseph App
| birth_name = Austin Joseph App
| birth_date = May 24, 1902
| birth_place = [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee), Wisconsin, U.S.
| death_date = May 4, 1984 (aged 81)
| occupation = Literature professor
}}
'''Austin Joseph App''' (May 24, 1902 – May 3, 1984)[[Stephen E. Atkins](/source/Stephen_E._Atkins), ''Holocaust Denial as an International Movement'' (Wesport, CT: Praeger, 2009), pp. 153-155.] was an American professor of medieval English literature who taught at the [University of Scranton](/source/University_of_Scranton) and [La Salle University](/source/La_Salle_University).[{{cite book |last=Atkins |first=Stephen E. |author-link=Stephen E. Atkins |chapter=Austin J. App and Holocaust Denial |title=Holocaust denial as an international movement |publisher=Praeger |year=2009 |isbn=9780313345388 |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=153–55}}] App defended [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany) during [World War II](/source/World_War_II).[{{cite book|title=Crimes of Hate: Selected Readings|year=2003|publisher=Sage|isbn=978-0761929437|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Keq9mGEb0AC&pg=PA190|author=Diana R. Grant|editor=Phyllis Gertenfield|page=190}}] He is known for his work denying the [Holocaust](/source/Holocaust), and he has been called the first major American [Holocaust denier](/source/Holocaust_denier).[{{cite book|last=Knight|first=Peter|title=Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, Volume 1|year=2003|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1576078129|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qMIDrggs8TsC&pg=PA322|page=322}}]
==Early life and education==
App was born in [Milwaukee](/source/Milwaukee), on May 24, 1902, to [German](/source/Germans) immigrant parents who were farmers, he attended [St. Francis Seminary](/source/Saint_Francis_de_Sales_Seminary) near Milwaukee and graduated in 1923. He studied English Literature at the [Catholic University of America](/source/Catholic_University_of_America) in [Washington, D.C.](/source/Washington%2C_D.C.), where he received a [Ph.D.](/source/Doctor_of_Philosophy) in 1929.
==Career==
App served as an instructor of English at [Catholic University of America](/source/Catholic_University_of_America) from 1929 to 1935. From 1935 to 1942 he served as the head of the English Department at the [University of Scranton](/source/University_of_Scranton), publishing widely in scholarly and popular journals. He wrote for ''The Catholic Home Journal'', ''Magnificat'', ''Queen's Work'', and ''[The Victorian](/source/The_Victorian).''[Lucey, William L. “Catholic Magazines: 1894-1900.” Records of the American Catholic Historical Society of Philadelphia, 63.4 (1952), pp. 197–223. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44210489. Accessed 27 Oct. 2020.] By his own account, he was particularly devoted to the cultural value of good manners, well-developed public speaking, and chivalry.[[http://www.catholicauthors.com/app.html Autobiographical Speech held by App].]{{Third-party inline|date=May 2022}}
App never married. He was a frequent public speaker. He wrote many letters to the editors of magazines and newspapers. He complained about the [American declaration of war on Germany](/source/United_States_declaration_of_war_upon_Germany_(1941)), and argued that without American intervention the [Axis powers](/source/Axis_powers) would have won World War II. He blamed Jews and [communists](/source/communists) for Germany's postwar problems. Few of his letters were published.[See chapter 5 in Deborah E. Lipstadt: ''Denying the Holocaust: The Growing Assault on Truth and Memory'', 2012.]
In a manner of criticism typical for his generation, App often examined literary aesthetics according to categories of virtue and truth. In a collection of essays printed in 1948, he argued for a Christian interpretation of literature in chapters titled “Presenting Sin and Temptation in Literature” and “How to Judge a Novel Ethically.”[Austin Joseph App: ''The true concept of literature: eight reprinted and two original articles.'' San Antonio: Mission Press, 1948.]{{Third-party inline|date=May 2022}}
He became president of the Federation of American Citizens of German Descent in 1945, serving in this position for several years. In the 1950s, App often wrote articles for [Conde McGinley](/source/Conde_McGinley)'s [antisemitic](/source/antisemitic) journal ''Common Sense''.[{{Cite book |last=Falk |first=Avner |title=Anti-semitism : a history and psychoanalysis of contemporary hatred |date=2008 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=978-0-313-35385-7 |location=Westport, Conn. |oclc=649479458}}][{{Cite book |last=Stier |first=Oren Baruch |title=Holocaust Icons : symbolizing the Shoah in history and memory |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-8135-7405-9 |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |oclc=930024289}}][{{cite journal |first=Austin J |last=App |title=The Sudeten-German Tragedy |journal=Reason |date=February 1976 |pages=28–33 |authorlink=Austin App }}] The article was later printed as a pamphlet.{{Third-party inline|date=May 2022}}
App also published ''A Straight Look at the Third Reich'', a defense of [Nazi Germany](/source/Nazi_Germany), and ''The Curse of Anti-Anti-Semitism'', arguing that the entire Jewish community is [responsible for the death of Christ](/source/Jewish_deicide).