Formerly called the Wehrmachtsauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt), the agency also provided information about the fate of foreign and German soldiers as well as prisoners of war in Germany.

Such information is used for civil proceedings, for an official register of war graves, for historical research and as biographical and genealogical purposes.

It started its work on 26 August 1939 as Wehrmachtauskunftstelle für Kriegerverluste und Kriegsgefangene (WASt), part of the Wehrmacht, under the auspices of Article No.

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.

[4] In 1951, the Federal Government of Germany and the State of Berlin agreed to rename WASt the Deutsche Dienststelle (WASt) für die Benachrichtigung der nächsten Angehörigen von Gefallenen der ehemaligen deutschen Wehrmacht and made it part of the administration of Land Berlin.

The French author Laurent Guillet, a native of Brittany, conducted research on the Franco-German history during World War II.

This research is often undertaken as part of a genealogical search for their origins, their unknown procreator and relates to those soldiers who were declared missing, killed in action or are untraceable.