Alfred Hassler

Alfred Hassler (1910–1991) was an anti-war author and activist, active during World War II and the Vietnam War.

Biography

Early life and education

Hassler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania in the United States. He grew up in New York and was educated at Brooklyn Polytechnic Institute. He studied night classes in journalism at Columbia University.

Journalism

He became employed by the Leader-Observer in Queens and then American Baptist Publications in Philadelphia. In 1942, Alfred Hassler became the editor of a pacifist journal called Fellowship published by the U.S. Fellowship of Reconciliation, a peace and social justice organization.

Anti-war activism

Following this he was imprisoned for his stance as a conscientious objector during World War II. While imprisoned, he wrote a book, Diary of a Self-Made Convict. He authored several anti-war books and articles (and co-authored the 1957 advocacy comic book Martin Luther King and the Montgomery Story). In 1958, Hassler became executive secretary of the peace group Fellowship of Reconciliation.^[1] Hassler led FoR delegations to Vietnam in 1965 and 1967, which let to his collaboration and friendship of Thích Nhất Hạnh.^[2] In his 1970 book, Saigon, U.S.A.^[3], Hassler supported the Vietnamese Buddhists, arguing they could form a nonviolent "Third Force" for peace independent of both the Saigon and Hanoi governments.^[2]

In 1969, Hassler also founded the Dai Dong Project, which linked war, environmental issues and poverty, and he was the president of the International Confederation for Disarmament and Peace.

Personal life

Hassler retired from his position with the fellowship and, in 1974, with his wife Dorothy founded a retirement community in southern Spain, Almeria. In the 1980s he returned to New York.

Death

Hassler died of cancer on June 5, 1991, at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, New York at the age of 81.^[4]

In popular culture

In 2013, Hassler, along with Thich Nhat Hanh and Sister Chan Khong, became the subject of a comic book and animated feature documentary film entitled The Secret of The 5 Powers.^[5][6]

References