Cornelius Rost (27 March 1919, Kufstein, Austria – 18 October 1983, Munich, Germany)[1][2][3] was an Austrian drafted into the German army as a soldier in World War II who allegedly escaped from a Soviet Gulag camp in Chukchi Peninsula, Siberia.

Rost's script was of very poor quality, but Ehrenwirth was keen on the story and hired professional writer Josef Martin Bauer to get the material into shape.

[5] Allegedly fearing a possible backlash by the post-war Allied authorities, Rost agreed to an oral interview only after being granted the use of the alias Clemens Forell.

In addition to numerous factual errors (e.g., the supposed lead mine in the Chukchi Peninsula never existed), key points in his tale cannot be verified (e.g., his repatriation via Iran).

After many years of research, in three broadcasts on Bayerischer Rundfunk on 2, 3 and 4 April 2010, the journalist Arthur Dittlmann concluded that Rost's descriptions cannot be true.