Remaining on things German, the Guardian reports that Nobel laureate Günter Grass has admitted that he served in the Waffen SS in the second world war.
His declaration that he served in an army unit of Hitler's Nazi elite came in a book about his recollections of war to be published next month. Explaining how the secret weighed on his mind, he told the Frankfurter Allgemeine yesterday: "My silence through all these years is one of the reasons why I wrote this book. It had to come out finally."
Grass, 78, won international acclaim in 1959 with his first novel, The Tin Drum, voicing the thoughts of a generation raised in the Nazi era who had survived the war. This, and later works such as Cat and Mouse, and Dog Years, earned him the role of "conscience of his generation". He has since become part of the artistic movement known in German as Vergangenheitsbewaeltigung or "coming to terms with the past".
As a teenager, he volunteered as a way of breaking away. "For me it was primarily about getting out of home. It was like that for many of my generation. We were doing army service and then suddenly, one year later, the draft order was on the table. And then I realised, probably not until I was in Dresden, that it was the Waffen SS."
Writing on the 1945 surrender in the Guardian last year, Grass told of being wounded: "I was a naive 17-year-old, who had believed in the ultimate victory right to the end ... it was not the hour of liberation; rather, I was beset by the empty feeling of humiliation following total defeat."
I doubt Grass was much different to most other young germans of that age. He would have been steeped in Nazi propaganda for virtually his whole life and it would have been an exceptional sort to see through the lies. Let’s face it there were not many Sophie Scholls or Swing Kids. Still it will be interesting to read his memoirs when they are published here.
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8 comments:
I just read this in Houston's hometown Pravda, The Chronicle, this morning. Interesting, and I'm a tad sympathetic towards Mr. Grass, but at the same time I feel uncomfortable with him potentially profiting from the sins of his past. Also, choosing until he reached an advanced age to finally be forthcoming, seems a little disingenuous.
Excellent post Jams. I agree that it will be interesting to read his memoirs, if they ever get published. It is despicable and I noted elasticwaistbandlady's point, that someone should keep such a secret their entire lives secure in the knowledge that justice would not prevail on confession. While many may take their secrets to the grave. This demonstrates a lack of remorse to confess at the point of death. Perhaps even to secure a comfortable passage out of this life.
Given his age I seriously doubt Grass was involved in any of the atrocitites committed by the SS (the Wehrmacht were no slouches on the atrocity front for that matter too). After the war the SS was branded a criminal organisation. I can only imagine that Grass hid his membership to ensure that he did not get tarred for actions he had no part in.
Still it does seem disingenuous to leave it until his late 70s to confess.
I think the real issue is, for all of us, what have we or will we do with our life? Gunter's contributions to the development of free and groundbreaking thought in the postwar times cannot be minimized. This contribution came from his personal growth as a result of his experiences. If he hadn't made the mistake of joining the SS, would he ever have been in a position to be able to speak out as he did later? We all make mistakes in our lives. As a son of a woman who grew up in Nazi Germany, I have learned that in those times, being part of the Nazi movement felt as right as for many Americans today accepting whatever their government says is true, so Grass' "sin" may just have been to try to fit in, as many youth do. What's more important is that he learned from his past and was able to contribute to us as a result, in the hopes of preventing another totalitarian tragedy. I admire him for his personal growth, which includes knowing that the legacy you leave must be in complete truth in order to be powerful, even if it means revealing your youthful mistakes.
Whatever his reasons for not mentioning his membership of the Waffen SS it does not diminish his work. He still remains one of Germany's greatest ever novellist regardless.
Eric, a good friend of mine his mother grew up during the Reich, was in the BDM and served in the Kreigsmarine. She echoes your mother's experience.
Thanks for your post Eric. Feel free to come back any time!
LOL mullets
There's more to this than meets the... literary page.
-tgs-
I have been thinking more about the issue Tommi, anmd I wonder if the furore is more about a german icon having feet of clay rather than anything elseyd
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