Günter Grass, the Nobel Prize-winning author of The Tin Drum and former member of the Waffen-SS, died on Monday. He was 87.
A dedicated anti-nationalist, Grass spent much of his career criticizing Germany’s actions during the Second World War and campaigning against its remilitarization. His social criticism, along with his vast output of essays, short-stories, plays, and novels, was credited with helping Germany reconcile its past with its future.
However, Grass’s 2006 confession that he’d volunteered for the German military in 1943 and later served in the Waffen-SS shocked his supporters and led to accusations of hypocrisy.
http://gawker.com/gunter-grass-the-nobel-prize-winning-author-of-the-tin-1697453996
A dedicated anti-nationalist, Grass spent much of his career criticizing Germany’s actions during the Second World War and campaigning against its remilitarization. His social criticism, along with his vast output of essays, short-stories, plays, and novels, was credited with helping Germany reconcile its past with its future.
However, Grass’s 2006 confession that he’d volunteered for the German military in 1943 and later served in the Waffen-SS shocked his supporters and led to accusations of hypocrisy.
http://gawker.com/gunter-grass-the-nobel-prize-winning-author-of-the-tin-1697453996