Paul N. Hehn (April 8, 1927 – January 4, 2015) was an American historian who specialized in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The son of a German immigrant father and a French-Canadian mother, Hehn was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

and served as a US Navy Seabee in the South Pacific and Japan in 1945 and 1946. He received his BA from the

University of Oregon The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...

in 1950 and his MA from

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

in 1954.David O. Stowell
Paul N. Hehn: 1927-2014
''

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

'', May 2015 Two years later, he traveled to

West Germany West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...

for a year of study at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

; after this, he spent a year conducting archival research in

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

. Returning to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, he earned his doctorate in history from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1961. For a number of years afterward, he taught at various institutions of higher education in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

and at

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

. In 1968, Hehn was hired by the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

, College at Brockport, where he was a member of the Department of History for the next 22 years. While at Brockport, he was known as a teacher and mentor who challenged students to think critically and who paid attention to their personal interests and needs. After retiring in 1990 as

professor emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

of history, he intensified his research and writing on World War II and eastern European history. In 2002, he published his ''magnum opus'' titled ''A Low Dishonest Decade: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe, and the Economic Origins of World War II, 1930–1941''. As ''The Independent Review: A Journal of Political Economy'' wrote, "Hehn contends forthrightly that economic rivalries ... formed the essential and primary cause of World War II. ... Hehn's vast research apparatus (100 pages of footnotes and bibliography), would be humbling for many historians."T. Hunt Tooley
The Independent Review
Fall 2004 ''

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...

'' found that "Hehn's

imperialist Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...

theme is compelling" and "powerfully argued".A LOW DISHONEST DECADE: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe, and the Economic Origins of World War II, 1930–1941
/ref> The title ''A Low, Dishonest Decade'' comes from the poem ''

September 1, 1939 "September 1, 1939" is a poem by W. H. Auden written on the outbreak of World War II. It was first published in ''The New Republic'' issue of 18 October 1939, and in book form in Auden's collection ''Another Time'' (1940). Description The po ...

'' by the British-American poet

W. H. Auden Wystan Hugh Auden (; 21 February 1907 – 29 September 1973) was a British-American poet. Auden's poetry was noted for its stylistic and technical achievement, its engagement with politics, morals, love, and religion, and its variety in ...

:James Brook
September 1, 1939
''

Poets.org The Academy of American Poets is a national, member-supported organization that promotes poets and the art of poetry. The nonprofit organization was incorporated in the state of New York in 1934. It fosters the readership of poetry through outreach ...

'', ''I sit in one of the dives'' ''On Fifty-second Street'' ''Uncertain and afraid'' ''As the clever hopes expire'' ''Of a low dishonest decade:'' ''Waves of anger and fear'' ''Circulate over the bright'' ''And darkened lands of the earth,'' ''Obsessing our private lives;'' ''The unmentionable odour of death'' ''Offends the September night.''

Publications

* ''The German Struggle against the Yugoslav Guerillas in World War II'' (Columbia University Press, 1979), * ''A Low, Dishonest Decade: The Great Powers, Eastern Europe, and the Economic Origins of World War II, 1930-1941'' (Bloomsbury Academic, 2002),

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hehn, Paul N. American historians Historians of World War II 1927 births 2015 deaths State University of New York faculty American expatriates in Japan University of Oregon alumni Columbia University alumni American expatriates in Germany American expatriates in Yugoslavia New York University alumni Temple University faculty