Gustav Just was a German journalist and author. He served as the First Secretary of the German Writers' Association (DSV) and editor-in-chief of the East German weekly Sonntag until 1957. In 1957, he was sentenced to four years imprisonment after a show trial where he was accused of engaging in anti-constitutional activities, specifically "inciting to boycott," along with Walter Janka, Heinz Zöger, and Richard Wolf.

After his release, he became a prolific translator of primarily Czech, but also Slovak, works into German. He was "rehabilitated" in 1990. Additionally, he served in the Brandenburg State Parliament in the newly-unified Germany until his resignation in 1992 following allegations of having participated in wartime atrocities on the Eastern Front.