Gerhard P. Bassler


Gerhard P. Bassler was a German-Canadian writer and professor. He was a specialist in German and Canadian migration history. His book Vikings to U-Boats: the German Experience in Newfoundland and Labrador won the Rogers Cable Non-Fiction Award, which is a part of the Newfoundland Book Awards.
Bassler died on March 26, 2023 in St. John's, Newfoundland at the age of 85.

Life

Bassler was born in Stuttgart, Germany in 1937. He earned a Ph.D in European and American history from the University of Kansas. He emigrated to Newfoundland in 1965. Bassler was a professor of history at the Memorial University of Newfoundland from 1965 to 2002. He became a professor emeritus at the Memorial University in 2003.

Works

The German Canadians 1750-1937: Immigration, Settlement, and Culture The German Canadian Mosaic Today and Yesterday: Identities, Roots, and Heritage Sanctuary Denied: Refugees from the Third Reich and Newfoundland Immigration Policy 1906-1949 Alfred Valdmanis and the Politics of Survival Vikings to U-Boats: the German Experience in Newfoundland and Labrador Escape Hatch: Newfoundland's Quest for German Industry and Immigration, 1950-1970
  • ''Develop or Perish''

Awards

  • 2007 Newfoundland and Labrador Book Award for Vikings to U-Boats: the German Experience in Newfoundland and Labrador
  • Shortlisted for the 2018 Heritage and History Book Award for ''Escape Hatch: Newfoundland's Quest for German Industry and Immigration''