Chilean President Prepares for Mass Deportations, His Father Was a Member of the Nazi Party 0 7

José Antonio Kast of the right-wing Republican Party won the second round of the presidential elections in Chile. He promised to deport hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants and will be the first far-right president since Pinochet.

The far-right politician, 59-year-old José Antonio Kast from the Republican Party, emerged victorious in the second round of the presidential elections in Chile. His main opponent, 51-year-old Jeanette Jara, a member of the Communist Party of Chile and candidate from the ruling center-left alliance, has already conceded defeat. She received about 41% of the votes and congratulated her opponent in a phone call.

Kast will assume the presidency on his third attempt. In his campaign, he focused on tough measures against crime and illegal migration.

German historian Armin Nolzen previously wrote that the president's father, Michael Martin Kast, was likely a member of the Hitler Youth from the age of 14 until September 1, 1942, at which point, at the age of 18, he voluntarily joined the Nazi Party, as shown by the Federal Archives of Germany. Kast and seven of his brothers joined the German army, with only three surviving.

During World War II, Kast was initially assigned to garrison duty in France in 1942, then fought against the Soviet Union from 1943 to 1944 in the Battle of Korsun–Cherkassy. Kast rose to the rank of lieutenant, "seeking greater leadership as an officer on the battlefield." In late 1944 and early 1945, he was sent to Italy to defend the Gothic Line in the Apennines and was captured by an American unit near Trento in May 1945. Kast escaped from custody during a guard change the following month and walked back to Bavaria using "rat paths," where, according to journalist Javier Rebolledo, he obtained a fake identity confirming his membership in the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Interestingly, Michael Kast's wife justified her husband—he allegedly joined the Nazi Party to avoid going to Stalingrad. So strategic planning seems to be a family trait.