Michael Kast


Michael Martin Kast was a German-Chilean military officer and businessman, along with being the founder of the Kast family in Chile.
Many of his descendants have had important roles in Chilean politics, including his son José Antonio Kast, President-elect of Chile.

Early life

Michael Martin Kast was born in Thalkirchdorf, a small Bavarian village in Germany, on 2 April 1924. His father was from Ulm and in 1893, created a powdered milk factory in Wiedemannsdorf, Oberstaufen that was one of three in Germany to produce the recently invented product. German historian has written that Kast likely was a member of the Hitler Youth from the age of 14 to 18, basically mandatory at that time. German Federal Archives show – as posted on social media by Mauricio Weibel and confirmed by AP journalists Frank Jordans and Joshua Goodman – that Kast joined the Nazi Party in September 1942 when about 10% of the population were party members. Membership in the NSDAP was voluntary, but many joined the party for purely opportunistic reasons.

World War II

Kast and seven of his brothers joined the German Army, with Kast serving as part of his obligatory military service. Reportedly, of the eight Kast brothers who fought in World War II, only three survived.
In 1942 Kast was first deployed on garrison duty in occupied France, from summer 1943 on stationed in Crimea. From there, Kast and his men managed to flee westward in March 1944 before the Soviet army could cut off the escape routes. After completing a military training course in Austria, which he finished as a lieutenant, he was deployed to Italy in 1944 to defend the Gothic Line in the Apennine Mountains. In an interview in 1995, Michael Kast described this transfer to Italy as his “salvation”. Shortly after the surrender of the German Army in Italy, he was captured by an American unit near Trento in May 1945. Kast escaped from custody during a guard change the following month and fled back to his home town in Southern Bavaria. In the uncertainty and fear of the last days of the war, a friend convinced him to destroy his military ID and got a false ID indicating he was a member of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Life in Chile

In Bavaria, Kast met his future wife, born Olga Maria Kreszencia Rist but generally known in Chile thereafter as Olga Rist Hagspiel, in accordance with Spanish language naming traditions, whereby both parents' surnames are formally and legally carried. The two were married on 26 October 1946, in Thalkirchdorf. Kast began to assume a false identity in 1947 during the denazification period, though when applying for his denazification certificate German officials initially did not approve one for Kast, although a prosecutor friendly to him burnt Kast's Nazi records. Following this, he fled to Argentina and, later, to Chile, with help from Vatican ratlines. He arrived in Chile in December 1950 and settled in Buin, a commune within the present-day Santiago Metropolitan Region.
Kast's wife, along with their two German-born children, arrived in Chile soon after. He founded the sausage factory Cecinas Bavaria in 1962, which is currently owned by his son, Christian Kast Rist. Kast was publicly awarded by the Municipality of Buin, the Chamber of Commerce of Buin, and the Carabineros of Buin. He also helped in the construction of six churches in Buin. A branch of firefighters in Buin bears his name, calling itself the "Brigada Juvenil Miguel Kast". In 1995, he was granted Chilean citizenship.

Death

Kast died on 10 May 2014, at the age of 90. His wake was at the Santos Ángeles Custodios Church, in Buin, the following day.

Controversy

Kast's exact involvement in World War II and under Augusto Pinochet's military dictatorship has been a subject of controversy.

Involvement in Nazi Germany

Journalist described Michael Kast in his book A la sombra de los cuervos as an officer of the Nazi Army who falsified his papers to evade a condemnation by the Allies and escaped to Chile – similar to the war criminal Walter Rauff. José Antonio Kast disputed this in the strongest terms in an article written for The Clinic. His father, “an exemplary man,” is being portrayed in this book in a negative light by the addition of biographies and stories that have nothing to do with his father. He alleged that his father could have not committed any war crimes during his time in the German army, as his father often visited his home village in Southern Bavaria in his later years. This also proves that his documents were in order and not falsified. He made it clear that, like millions of other German men, military service was compulsory. In 2021, Gabriel Boric, the main political opponent of José Antonio Kast in the 2021 Chilean general elections, accused José Antonio Kast of being a hypocrite, as "migrating is a right and sometimes it is also a tragedy. Your father himself was a migrant after having fought in the Nazi army".
After this, it was revealed that Michael Kast was indeed member of the Nazi Party, in a way contradicting former statements of José Antonio Kast, that his father was no supporter of the Nazi movement.

Involvement in Pinochet dictatorship

Rebolledo and Guzmán also wrote that Kast were associated with the Pinochet dictatorship's National Information Center, taking part in the capture and forced disappearance of Pedro Vargas, who had been organizing workers at Kast's business.
José Antonio Kast also claimed it was impossible for his father to have been involved in the disappearance of Pedro Vargas, due to the fact that Vargas's father and brother had kept working at the Kast family's sausage factory after Pedro Vargas's disappearance.

Personal life

Michael Kast had 10 children, 50 grandchildren and some 20 great-grandchildren. Two of his children died in their youth; one by drowning and the other in a car crash. Many of his children and grandchildren have had important roles in Chilean politics, serving as deputies and senators. A son of his died from bone cancer at age 34.
  • Michael "Miguel" Kast Rist, economist, member of the Chicago Boys, and Minister of State and President of the Central Bank under the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet; married to Cecilia Sommerhoff Hyde ; 5 children
  • * Bárbara Kast Sommerhoff, sociologist
  • * Michael Kast Sommerhoff, priest
  • * Pablo Kast Sommerhoff, architect and Deputy ; married to Juana Edwards Urrejola; 4 children
  • * Felipe Kast Sommerhoff, architect, economist, Deputy, Senator ; married to Emelia Puga Bermúdez ; 4 children
  • * Tomás Kast Sommerhoff, engineer and Councilman of Vitacura, Deputy
  • Bárbara Kast Rist known for her deep religious devotion and involvement in the Schoenstatt Movement.
  • Erika Kast Rist, married to businessman Alfonso Maira Carlini ; 8 children, including
  • * Cristóbal Maira Kast, owner of Agricola Rayenco
  • * Consuelo Maira Kast, businesswoman
  • * Catalina Maira Kast, investor
  • * Esteban Maira Kast, lawyer
  • Christian Kast Rist, businessman and owner of Cecinas Bavaria; married to Pamela Prett Weber ; 4 children, including
  • * Mónica Kast Prett, historian
  • * Andrea Kast Prett, businesswoman, executive of Cecinas Bavaria
  • * Cristian Kast Prett, businessman
  • Verónica Kast Rist, married to Andrés Tocornal Vial ; 6 children
  • Gabriela Kast Rist, author; 8 children
  • Hans Kast Rist, served as a Roman Catholic priest for 25 years until leaving the priesthood in 2020
  • Rita Kast Rist, businesswoman; married to Gonzalo Urcelay Montecinos ; 7 children, including
  • * Gonzalo Urcelay Kast, lawyer
  • * María Fernanda Urcelay Kast, lawyer
  • José Antonio Kast Rist, lawyer, politician, deputy, presidential candidate in 2017, 2021 and 2025 and founder of the Republican Party of Chile; married to María Pía Adriasola Barroilhet ; 9 children.
  • * José Antonio Kast Adriasola, politician, Deputy