1. Life

2. Literature

3. Weblinks

4. References

Life

Gerhard Bast, son of attorney Rudolf Bast,^[1] grew up in a German national household.^[2] In 1912, the family moved to Amstetten. Bast studied at the highschool in Wels. After graduation he studied jurisprudence at the University of Graz, where he was a member of the burschenschaft (student fraternity) "Germania Graz".^[3] He graduated law school in 1935 with his doctorate. In October 1931, he became a member of the NSDAP party (member number 612,972) and shortly thereafter joined the SS (SS Number 23,064). After graduation, Bast worked at the county court in St. Pölten, but lost his job shortly afterwards due to his membership in the Nazi party. Bast then worked in his father's law office, who was an enthusiastic national socialist. ^[2]

After the German Reich's Anschluss with Austria, on March 20, 1938 Bast joined the Sicherheitsdienst and Gestapo. Bast was first placed to work in Graz, where he in early 1940 became the head of the department for combat and investigation of enemies. In August 1940, Bast moved to the Gestapo in Koblenz; then from January 1941, he headed the state police control center in Linz on behalf of Humbert Achamer-Pifrader. In the SS he achieved the position of Sturmbannführer and was also promoted to the government council. Since July 1941, he was the leader of the Gestapo in Münster. In this position, he was heavily involved in the deportation of Jews out of Germany and took part in the execution of Polish forced laborers.^[2][4]

From November 1942 to December 1942 he was leader of the special unit 11a in Einsatzgruppe D and led the assassinations of Jews.^[5] In January 1943, Bast was transferred to Linz, where he led the Gestapo.^[6] In November 1943, Bast accidentally killed a young hunter while hunting. As he could "prove his worth" in the eastern war front, he did not have to serve a four month long prison sentence.^[1]

From June 1944 to October/November 1944, he was leader of the special unit 7a in the "Einsatzgruppe B".^[5] Later, he was deployed with his special unit in the "Einsatzgruppe H" under lead of "BdS Pressburg" to fight partisans.

Bast obtained the following awards: War Merit Cross I and II class with swords, Ostvolk Medal II class in silver, as well as an armed forces cross (Heeressiegeskreuz) III class with swords. He was referred to as Alter Kämpfer.^[4]

At the end of World War II he disappeared under a false name. As an alleged farmhand and lumberjack, he found accommodation and employment at a farm in South Tyrol. In March 1947, he wanted to return to his family in Innsbruck and asked the help of a human trafficker to assist him in passing the guarded Brennerpass. Before even reaching the Brennerpass, the smuggler killed Bast with three shots, robbed him. The smuggler was convicted in 1949 of murder and robbery and was to serve a 30 year long prison sentence.^[2]

The Austrian author Martin Pollack is the illegitimate son of Gerhard Bast. Pollack wrote the book: "Der Tote im Bunker. Bericht über meinen Vater", that was published in Vienna in 2004.^[2]

Literature

• Helge Dvorak: Biographisches Lexikon der Deutschen Burschenschaft. Band I: Politiker. Teilband 7: Supplement A–K. Winter, Heidelberg 2013, {{ISBN|978-3-8253-6050-4}}, S. 45–46.
• Ernst Klee: Das Personenlexikon zum Dritten Reich. Fischer, Frankfurt am Main 2007. {{ISBN|978-3-596-16048-8}}. (Aktualisierte 2. Auflage)
• Martin Pollack: Der Tote im Bunker. Bericht über meinen Vater. Zsolnay, Wien 2004, {{ISBN|3-552-05318-2}}.
• Gerald Steinacher: Nazis auf der Flucht. Wie Kriegsverbrecher über Italien nach Übersee entkamen, Frankfurt a. M. 2010, {{ISBN|978-3-596-18497-2}}. (Taschenbuchausgabe)

Weblinks

• Record of interrogatoin of Bast's father in 1947 in the arhives of the IFZ (PDF; 2,6 MB)
• [https://e-gov.ooe.gv.at/bgdfiles/p3673/Bast_Gerhard.pdf Biography of Dr. Gerhard Bast]

References

• AO-27 (disambiguation)
• AO-27 rifle
• AO-2 Inflatoplane
• Ao2:TFD
• AO-35 (disambiguation)
• AO-36
• AO-37
• AO-38
• AO-38 assault rifle
• AO-38 (disambiguation)
• AO-39
• AO-3 Inflatoplane
• AO-41
• AO-42
• AO-43
• AO-44
• AO-44 (disambiguation)
• AO-45
• AO-46
• AO-46 (disambiguation)
• AO-46 (firearm)
• AO-62 (disambiguation)
• AO65
• AO-65
• AO-76