Alfred Apsler

Alfred Apsler (born November 11, 1907 in Vienna , Austria-Hungary ; † January 2, 1982 in Vancouver , Washington ) was an Austrian-American educator and writer .

Life

Alfred was born in Vienna as the son of the accountant Hermann and his wife Helene Apsler (née Pasternak). In 1926 he graduated from the Erzherzog-Rainer-Gymnasium , then studied history at the University of Vienna and attended the teacher training college . At the same time, he was involved with the Kinderfreunde and the Rote Falken . After graduating from Eduard Castle in 1930 as Dr. phil. until February 1934 he worked for the Arbeiter-Zeitung , where he mainly wrote reviews . He also wrote for various social democratic magazines and was a literary advisor in the labor education system. In 1933 he became a member of the Association of Socialist Writers and worked as a primary school teacher.

In February 1934 he lost a large part of his publication opportunities. He stayed to work as a primary school teacher in Vienna, then in Graz . In 1936 he married the young Viennese doctor Ernestine Gerson. For the school year 1937/38 he was employed by the Israelitische Kulturgemeinde as a primary school teacher. In October 1938 the Apsler couple were able to flee to Switzerland , from where they emigrated to the USA in November 1939 . Alfred Apsler's parents were deported by the National Socialists to the Riga ghetto in December 1941 and murdered, while Ernestine Apslers was in 1944 in Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp .

Apsler received the citizenship of the United States of America in September 1945 and was initially a librarian at Duke University in North Carolina , then a high school teacher and college professor. From 1956 to 1973 he was director of the historical department at Clark College in Vancouver (Washington). He lectured in comparative religion and organized college courses for senior citizens. From 1973 he was a freelance author. He wrote a number of historical biographies for young readers, among others about Samson Wertheimer , Louis Fleischner , Karl Marx , Otto von Bismarck , Charles de Gaulle and Jawaharlal Nehru .

Works

• Northwest Pioneer: The story of Louis Fleischner , New York 1960
• They came from Germany , New York in 1962
• The court factor; the story of Samson Wertheimer , Philadelphia 1964
• The Sun King: Louis XIV of France , New York 1965
• Jawaharlal Nehru. Fighter for independence , New York 1966
• Prophet of revolution: Karl Marx , New York 1967
• Iron Chancellor. Otto von Bismarck , New York 1968
• Ivan the Terrible , New York 1971
• An introduction to social science , New York 1971
• Vive de Gaulle; the story of Charles de Gaulle , New York 1973
• Communes through the ages; the search for Utopia , New York 1974
• From witch doctor to biofeedback: The Story of healing by suggestion , New York 1977

literature

• Herbert Exenberger : Alfred Apsler. Pedagogue - writer - popular educator. In: With the accordion. Literature resistance exile. Journal, Vol. 14, No. 3, November 1997, p. 15, with a detailed bibliography
• Eckart Früh : Alfred Apsler. Traces and remnants. Bio-bibliographical sheets, No. 35. Self-published, Vienna 1999. Stitched brochure
• Ursula Seeber [ed.]: Small allies: expelled Austrian children's and youth literature , Austrian library in exile. Vienna: Picus-Verl. , 1998 ISBN 3-85452-276-2 .

Web links

• Entry in the Herbert Exenberger archive of the Theodor Kramer Society .
• Reviews of books by Alfred Apsler on the Kirkus Review page .