Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt)

The Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) is a German government agency based in Berlin which maintains records of members of the former German Wehrmacht who were killed in action, as well as official military records of all military personnel during the Second World War (ca. 18 million) as well as naval military records since 1871 and other war-related records. Formerly called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle (WASt), this agency also provides information about the fate of foreign and German soldiers as well as prisoners of war in Germany. This kind of information is used for civil proceedings as well as an official register of war graves, and for historical research as well as biographical and genealogical purposes. The agency was established on 26 August 1939 and has been an agency of the state government of Berlin since 1951. It is not subject to the Bundesarchivgesetz (Federal Archives Act), and the military records are therefore publicly available 10 years after the death of the concerned person. The agency is a major source for scientific research in various areas.

It started its work on 26 August 1939 under the name of Wehrmachtauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt), as part of the Wehrmacht, under the auspices of Article No. 77 of the Third Geneva Convention (which related to the treatment of prisoners of war from 27 July 1929).

The text of Article 77 is as follows:

The Detaining Powers shall provide all facilities for the transmission, through the Protecting Power or the Central Prisoners of War Agency provided for in Article 123, of instruments, papers or documents intended for prisoners of war or despatched by them, especially powers of attorney and wills.

In all cases they shall facilitate the preparation and execution of such documents on behalf of prisoners of war; in particular, they shall allow them to consult a lawyer and shall take what measures are necessary for the authentication of their signatures.

In August 1943, the archives were divided in two parts. One part of the WASt was transferred to Saalfeld/Saale in Thuringia, the other part moved to Meiningen, also in Thuringia. It was put under American military authority on 12 April 1945, after their occupation of Thuringia. The American forces moved WASt on 1 July 1945 to Fürstenhagen near Kassel, shortly before the Red Army moved in. In January 1946, the archive was relocated to Berlin and renamed the Deutsche Dienststelle. On 14 June 1946, the Allied Control Council devolved some of its role to the French Military Commission.

...
Wikipedia