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Günter Grass Günter Wilhelm Grass [4] (German: [ˈɡʏntɐ ˈɡʀas]; 16 October 1927 – 13 April 2015) was a German novelist, poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, and recipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature. [5][6][7][8] Grass, who identified as Kashubian, [2][3][9] was born in the Free City of Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland). As a teenager, he served briefly as a drafted soldier in the Waffen SS, and was taken prisoner of war by U.S. forces at the end of the war in May 1945. He was released in April 1946. Trained as a stonemason and sculptor, Grass began writing in the 1950s. In his fiction, he frequently returned to the Danzig of his childhood. Grass is best known for his first novel, The Tin Drum (1959), a key text in European magic realism. It was the first book of his Danzig Trilogy, the other two being Cat and Mouse and Dog Years. His works are frequently considered to have a left-wing political dimension, and Grass was an active supporter of the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD). The Tin Drum was adapted as a film of the same name, which won both the 1979 Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In 1999, the Swedish Academy awarded him the Nobel Prize in Literature, praising him as a writer “whose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten face of history”. [10] 1 Early life Grass was born in the Free City of Danzig on 16 Octo- ber 1927, to Wilhelm Grass (1899–1979), a Protestant of German origin, and Helene Grass (née Knoff, 1898–1954), a Roman Catholic of Kashubian-Polish origin. [11][12] Grass was raised a Catholic and served as an altar boy when he was a child. [13] His parents had a gro- cery store with an attached apartment in Danzig-Langfuhr (now Gdańsk Wrzeszcz). He had a sister, Waltraud, born in 1930. [14] Grass attended the Danzig gymnasium Conradinum. In 1943, at age 16, he became a Luftwaffenhelfer (Air Force “helper”). Soon thereafter, he was conscripted into the Reichsarbeitsdienst (National Labor Service). In Novem- ber 1944, shortly after his 17th birthday, Grass vol- unteered for submarine service with the German Navy (Kriegsmarine), “to get out of the confinement felt as a teenager in his parents’ house”, which he considered stuffy Catholic lower middle-class. [15][16] The Navy did not accept him and he was instead drafted Günter Grass’s childhood home in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland) into the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg in late 1944. [17][18] Grass did not reveal until 2006 that he was drafted into the Waffen-SS at that time. [19] His unit func- tioned as a regular Panzer Division, and he served with them from February 1945 until he was wounded on 20 April 1945 (coincidentally, Hitler’s last birthday). He was captured in Marienbad (now Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic) and sent to a U.S. prisoner-of-war camp in Bad Aibling, Bavaria. [20] In 1946 and 1947, Grass worked in a mine and received training in stonemasonry. For many years he studied sculpture and graphics, first at the Kunstakademie Düs- seldorf. He became a founding member of the Group 47, organized by Hans Werner Richter. Grass worked as an author, graphic designer, and sculptor, traveling fre- 1

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German novelist,poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, andrecipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature

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  • Gnter Grass

    Gnter Wilhelm Grass[4] (German: [nt as]; 16October 1927 13 April 2015) was a German novelist,poet, playwright, illustrator, graphic artist, sculptor, andrecipient of the 1999 Nobel Prize in Literature.[5][6][7][8]

    Grass, who identied as Kashubian,[2][3][9] was born inthe Free City of Danzig (now Gdask, Poland). As ateenager, he served briey as a drafted soldier in theWaen SS, and was taken prisoner of war by U.S. forcesat the end of the war in May 1945. He was released inApril 1946. Trained as a stonemason and sculptor, Grassbegan writing in the 1950s. In his ction, he frequentlyreturned to the Danzig of his childhood.Grass is best known for his rst novel, The Tin Drum(1959), a key text in European magic realism. It wasthe rst book of his Danzig Trilogy, the other two beingCat and Mouse and Dog Years. His works are frequentlyconsidered to have a left-wing political dimension, andGrass was an active supporter of the Social DemocraticParty of Germany (SPD). The Tin Drum was adaptedas a lm of the same name, which won both the 1979Palme d'Or and the Academy Award for Best ForeignLanguage Film. In 1999, the Swedish Academy awardedhim the Nobel Prize in Literature, praising him as a writerwhose frolicsome black fables portray the forgotten faceof history.[10]

    1 Early lifeGrass was born in the Free City of Danzig on 16 Octo-ber 1927, to Wilhelm Grass (18991979), a Protestantof German origin, and Helene Grass (ne Kno,18981954), a Roman Catholic of Kashubian-Polishorigin.[11][12] Grass was raised a Catholic and served as analtar boy when he was a child.[13] His parents had a gro-cery store with an attached apartment inDanzig-Langfuhr(now Gdask Wrzeszcz). He had a sister, Waltraud, bornin 1930.[14]

    Grass attended the Danzig gymnasium Conradinum. In1943, at age 16, he became a Luftwaenhelfer (Air Forcehelper). Soon thereafter, he was conscripted into theReichsarbeitsdienst (National Labor Service). In Novem-ber 1944, shortly after his 17th birthday, Grass vol-unteered for submarine service with the German Navy(Kriegsmarine), to get out of the connement felt asa teenager in his parents house, which he consideredstuy Catholic lower middle-class.[15][16]

    The Navy did not accept him and he was instead drafted

    Gnter Grasss childhood home in Danzig (nowGdask, Poland)

    into the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg in late1944.[17][18] Grass did not reveal until 2006 that he wasdrafted into theWaen-SS at that time.[19] His unit func-tioned as a regular Panzer Division, and he served withthem from February 1945 until he was wounded on 20April 1945 (coincidentally, Hitlers last birthday). He wascaptured in Marienbad (now Marinsk Lzn, CzechRepublic) and sent to a U.S. prisoner-of-war camp in BadAibling, Bavaria.[20]

    In 1946 and 1947, Grass worked in a mine and receivedtraining in stonemasonry. For many years he studiedsculpture and graphics, rst at the Kunstakademie Ds-seldorf. He became a founding member of the Group47, organized by Hans Werner Richter. Grass worked asan author, graphic designer, and sculptor, traveling fre-

    1

  • 2 3 MAJOR WORKS

    quently. In 1953 he moved to West Berlin where he stud-ied at the Berlin University of the Arts. From 1960, helived in Berlin as well as part-time in Schleswig-Holstein.In 1961 he voiced his opposition to the construction ofthe Berlin Wall.From 1983 to 1986, he held the presidency of theAcademy of Arts, Berlin.[20]

    2 Personal lifeGrasss marriage in 1954 to Anna Margareta Schwarz, aSwiss dancer, ended in divorce in 1978. He and Schwarzhad four children, Franz (born 1957), Raoul (1957),Laura (1961), and Bruno (1965). Separated in 1972,he began a relationship with Veronika Schrter and hada child with her, Helene (1974). He also had a childwith Ingrid Kruger, Nele (1979). In 1979 he marriedUte Grunert, an organist, to whom he was still married athis death.[20] He had two stepsons from his second mar-riage, Malte and Hans. He had 18 grandchildren at hisdeath.[20][21]

    Grass was a fan of Bundesliga Club, SC Freiburg.[22]

    3 Major works

    3.1 Danzig Trilogy

    Main article: Danzig TrilogyGrass best-known work is The Tin Drum (German: Die

    Danzig Krahntor waterfront (postcard, c. 1900)

    Blechtrommel), published in 1959 (and adapted as a lmof the same name by director Volker Schlndor in1979). It was followed in 1961 by Cat and Mouse (Ger-man: Katz und Maus), a novella, and in 1963 by the novelDog Years (German: Hundejahre).The books are collectively called the Danzig Trilogyand focus on the rise of Nazism and how World WarII aected Danzig (now Gdask, Poland), which was

    Danzig Gulden coin

    separated from Germany after World War I and be-came the Free City of Danzig (German: Freie StadtDanzig).[23] Dog Years is considered a sequel of sortsto The Tin Drum, as if features some of the samecharacters.[24] It portrays the areas mixed ethnicities andcomplex historical background in lyrical prose that ishighly evocative.[25][26]

    The Tin Drum established Grass as one of the leadingauthors of Germany, and also set a high bar of compar-ison for all of his subsequent works, which were oftencompared unfavorably to this early work by critics.[27]Nonetheless, in the West Germany of the late '50s andearly '60s the book could be controversial, and its im-morality prompted the city of Bremen to revoke a prizeit had bestowed upon him.[20] When Grass received theNobel Prize in literature in 1999 the Nobel Committeestated that the publication of The Tin Drum was as ifGerman literature had been granted a new beginning af-ter decades of linguistic and moral destruction[28]

    3.2 The Flounder

    The 1977 novel The Flounder (German: Der Butt) isbased on the folktale of "The Fisherman and His Wife",and deals with the struggle between the sexes. It hasbeen read as an anti-feminist novel, since in the novelthe magical ounder of the folk tale, now representingmale triumphalism and the patriarchy is caught by a groupof 1970s feminists, who put it on trial. The book in-terrogates male-female relations from the past and thepresent through the relationship between the narrator andhis wife, who as the wife in the folk tale, insatiably cravesmore.[29] In spite of the fact that the book could be readas a defense of women and a denouncement of malechauvinism, the book was harshly critiqued and rejectedby feminists, partly due to its use of gender essential-

  • 3ism, sexualization and objectication, violence and malenarcissism.[30]

    3.3 My Century and CrabwalkThe 1999 book My Century (German: Mein Jahrhun-dert) was an overview of the 20th-centurys many bru-tal historic events, conveyed in short pieces, a mosaic ofexpression. In 2002, Grass returned to the forefront ofworld literature with Crabwalk (German: Im Krebsgang).This novella, one of whose main characters rst appearedin Cat and Mouse, was Grasss most successful work indecades. It dealt with the events of a refugee ship, fullof thousands of Germans, being sunk by a Russian sub-marine, killing most on board. It was one of a numberof works since the late 20th century that have exploredGermans as victims of World War II.[31]

    3.4 Memoir trilogyIn 2006 Grass published the rst volume in a trilogy ofautobiographic memoirs. Titled Peeling the Onion (Ger-man: Beim Huten der Zwiebel), it dealt with his child-hood, war years, early eorts as a sculptor and poet, andnally his literary success with the publication of The TinDrum. In a prepublication interview Grass for the rsttime revealed that he had been a member of the WaenSS, and not only a Flakhelfer (anti-aircraft assistant) as hehad long said. On being asked what caused the need forpublic confession and revelation of his past in the bookhe answered: It was a weight on me, my silence over allthese years is one of the reasons I wrote the book. It hadto come out in the end.[32]

    The interview and the book caused critics to accuse himof hypocrisy for having hidden this part of his past, whilesimultaneously being a strong voice for ethics and moral-ity in the public debate.[32] The book itself was alsopraised for its depictions of the German postwar gener-ation and the social and moral development of a nationburdened simultaneously by destruction and a deep senseof guilt.[33] Throughout the memoir Grass plays with thefrailty of memory, for which the layers of the onion area metaphor. Grass second-guesses his own memories,throws his own autobiographical statements into doubtand questions whether the person inhabiting his past wasreally him. This struggle with memory comes to repre-sent the struggle of the German people during the sameperiod with Germanys Nazi past.[34]

    4 Main themes and literary styleA main theme in Grasss work is WW2 and its eects onGermany and the German people, including a critique ofthe forms of ideological reasoning that undergirded theNazi regime. The place of the city of Danzig/Gdask

    and its ambiguous historical status in between Germanand Poland often stands as a symbol of the ambiguity be-tween ethnic groups, also found in Grasss own heritagewhich includes both German and Slavic family memberswho fought on opposite sides of the war. His works alsoshow a sustained concern for the marginal and marginal-ized subjects, such as the Oskar Matzerath, the dwarf inThe Tin Drum whose body was considered an aberrationunworthy of life in the Nazi ideology, or with Roma andSinti people who were also deemed impure and unworthyand subjected to eugenics and genocide.[35][36]

    His literary style combines elements of magical realism,with a penchant for questioning and complicating ques-tions of authorship by intermingling realistic autobio-graphical elements with unreliable narrators and fantasticevents or happenings that creates irony or satirizes eventsto form social critiques.[37][38]

    5 Reception by critics and col-leagues

    Grasss work has tended to divide the critics into thosewho have considered his experiments and style to be sub-lime and those who have found it to be tied down by hispolitical posturing. Particularly American critics such asJohn Updike have found the mixture of politics and socialcritique in his works to diminish its artistic qualities.[39]In his various critiques of Grasss works, Updike wrotethat Grass had been consumed by his strenuous careeras celebrity-author-artist-Socialist and about one of hislater novels that he cant be bothered to write a novel; hejust sends dispatches . . . from the front lines of his en-gagement. Even if frequently critical of Grass, Updikeconsidered him to be one of the very, very few authorswhose next novel one has no intention of missing.[40]

    Grasss literary style has been widely inuential. JohnIrving called Grass simply the most original and versa-tile writer alive. And many have noted parallels betweenIrvings A Prayer for Owen Meany and The Tin Drum.[41]Similarly, Salman Rushdie has acknowledged a debt toGrasss work, particularly The Tin Drum, and many par-allels to Grasss work have been pointed out in his ownoeuvre.[42]

    6 Social and political activismGrass was for several decades a supporter of the SocialDemocratic Party of Germany and its policies. He tookpart in German and international political debate on sev-eral occasions. During Willy Brandt's chancellorship,Grass was an active supporter. Grass criticised left-wingradicals and instead argued in favour of the snails pace,as he put it, of democratic reform (Aus dem Tagebuch

  • 4 7 AWARDS AND HONOURS

    Gnter Grass by Irish artist Reginald Gray (The New YorkTimes, 1965)

    Gnter Grass in 1986

    einer Schnecke). Books containing his speeches and es-

    says were released throughout his literary career.[20]

    In the 1980s, he became active in the peace movementand visited Calcutta for sixmonths.[20] Adiary with draw-ings was published as Zunge zeigen, an allusion to Kali'stongue.During the events leading up to the reunication of Ger-many in 198990, Grass argued for the continued sepa-ration of the two German states. He asserted that a uni-ed Germany would be likely to resume its role as bel-ligerent nation-state. This argument estranged many Ger-mans, who came to see him as too much of a moralizinggure.[32]

    In 2001, Grass proposed the creation of a German-Polishmuseum for art lost to other countries during the War.The Hague Convention of 1907 requires the return of artthat had been evacuated, stolen or seized. Some countriesrefused to repatriate some of the looted art.[43][44]

    On 4 April 2012, Grasss poemWhat Must Be Said (Ger-man: Was gesagt werden muss) was published in sev-eral European newspapers. Grass expressed his concernabout the hypocrisy of German military support (the de-livery of a submarine) for an Israel that might use suchequipment to launch nuclear warheads against Iran, whichcould wipe out the Iranian people (dass...iranischeVolk auslschen knnte). And he hoped that many woulddemand that the governments of both Iran and Israel al-low an international authority free and open inspectionof the nuclear potential and capability of both. In re-sponse, Israel declared him persona non grata in thatcountry.[45][46][47]

    According to Avi Primor, president of the Israel Councilon Foreign Relations, Grass was the only important Ger-man cultural gure who had refused to meet with himwhen he served as Israeli ambassador to Germany. Pri-mor noted: One explanation for [Grass] strange behav-ior might be found in the fact that Grass (who despite hispoem is probably not the bitter enemy of Israel that onewould imagine) had certain personal diculties with Is-rael. Primor said that during Grasss earlier visit to Israel,he was confronted with the anger of an Israeli public thatbooed him in successive public appearances. To be sure,the Israeli protestors were not targeting Grass personallyand their anger had nothing at all to do with his litera-ture. It was the German eort to establish cultural rela-tions with Israel to which they objected. Grass, however,did not see it that way and may well have felt personallyslighted.[48]

    On 26 April 2012, Grass wrote a poem criticizing Euro-pean policy for the treatment of Greece in the Europeansovereign-debt crisis. In Europes Disgrace, Grass ac-cuses Europe of condemning Greece to poverty, a coun-try whose mind conceived Europe.[49][50]

  • 5Gnter Grass with the West German Chancellor Willy Brandt,1972

    7 Awards and honoursGrass received dozens of international awards; in 1999,he was awarded the highest literary honour: the NobelPrize in Literature. The Swedish Academy noted himas a writer whose frolicsome black fables portray theforgotten face of history.[10] His literature is commonlycategorised as part of the German artistic movementknown as Vergangenheitsbewltigung, roughly translatedas coming to terms with the past.In 1965, Grass received theGeorg Bchner Prize; in 1993he was elected an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Soci-ety of Literature[51] In 1995, he received the HermannKesten Prize.Representatives of the city of Bremen joined together toestablish the Gnter Grass Foundation with the aim of es-tablishing a centralized collection of his numerous works,especially his many personal readings, videos and lms.The Gnter Grass House in Lbeck houses exhibitions ofhis drawings and sculptures, an archive and a library.[52]

    In 2012, Grass received the award European of theYear from the European Movement Denmark (Eu-ropabevgelsen) honoring his political debates in Euro-pean aairs.[53]

    8 Waen-SS revelationsIn August 2006, in an interview about his forthcomingbook, Peeling the Onion, Grass said that he had been amember of the Waen-SS in World War II.[19] Prior tothat, he had been considered a typical member of the"Flakhelfer generation, one of those too young to seemuch ghting or to be involved with the Nazi regime be-yond its youth organizations.[54]

    On 15 August 2006, the online edition of Der Spiegel,Spiegel Online, published three 1946 documents fromU.S. forces verifying Grasss Waen-SS membership.[55]

    After an unsuccessful attempt to volunteer for the U-

    boat eet at age 15, Grass was conscripted into theReichsarbeitsdienst (Reich Labor Service). He was calledup for the Waen-SS in 1944. Grass was trained asa tank gunner and fought with the 10th SS Panzer Di-vision Frundsberg until its surrender to U.S. forces atMarienbad.[56][57]

    In 2007, Grass published an account of his wartime expe-rience in The New Yorker, including an attempt to stringtogether the circumstances that probably triggered andnourished my decision to enlist.[57] To the BBC, Grasssaid in 2006: It happened as it did to many of my age.We were in the labour service and all at once, a year later,the call-up notice lay on the table. And only when I gotto Dresden did I learn it was the Waen-SS.[58]

    Joachim Fest, conservative German journalist, historianand biographer of Adolf Hitler, said to the Germanweekly Der Spiegel about Grasss disclosure: After 60years, this confession comes a bit too late. I can't under-stand how someone who for decades set himself up as amoral authority, a rather smug one, could pull this o.[59]

    As Grass was for many decades an outspoken left-leaningcritic of Germanys failure to deal with its Nazi past, hisstatement caused a great stir in the press. Rolf Hochhuthsaid it was disgusting that this same politically correctGrass had publicly criticized Helmut Kohl and RonaldReagan's visit to a military cemetery at Bitburg in 1985,because it contained graves of Waen-SS soldiers.[32]In the same vein, the historian Michael Wolsohn ac-cused Grass of hypocrisy in not earlier disclosing his SSmembership.[60]

    Others defended Grass, saying his involuntaryWaen-SSmembership came very early in his life, resulting fromhis being drafted shortly after his seventeenth birthday.They noted he had alwaysafter the war was lostbeenpublicly critical of Germanys Nazi past. For example,novelist John Irving criticised those who would dismissthe achievements of a lifetime because of a mistake madeas a teenager.[61]

    Grasss biographer Michael Jrgs described the contro-versy as resulting in the end of a moral institution.[62]Lech Wasa initially criticized Grass for keeping silentabout his SS membership for 60 years. He later with-drew his criticism after reading Grasss letter to the mayorof Gdask, saying that Grass set the good example forthe others.[63] On 14 August 2006, the ruling party ofPoland, Law and Justice, called on Grass to relinquish hishonorary citizenship of Gdask. Jacek Kurski, a Law andJustice politician said, It is unacceptable for a city wherethe rst blood was shed, where World War II began, tohave a Waen-SS member as an honorary citizen.[64]But, according to a 2010 poll[65][66] ordered by citys au-thorities, the vast majority of Gdask citizens did notsupport Kurskis position. The mayor of Gdask, PaweAdamowicz, said that he opposed submitting the aair tothe municipal council because it was not for the councilto judge history.[67]

  • 6 11 SEE ALSO

    9 DeathGrass died of a lung infection on April 13, 2015, in aLbeck hospital at the age of 87.[68][69][70] He was buriedin a private family observance April 25 in Behlendorf, 15miles south of Lbeck, where he had lived since 1995.U.S. novelist John Irving was scheduled to deliver themain eulogy at a memorial service for Grass, set for May10 in Lbeck. [71]

    10 Bibliography Die Vorzge der Windhhner (poems, 1956); Steidl,2007, ISBN 9783865215697

    Die bsen Kche. Ein Drama (play, 1956) ISSN0722-8511 translated as The Wicked Cooks in FourPlays (1967)

    Hochwasser. Ein Stck in zwei Akten (play, 1957)The Flood

    Onkel, Onkel. Ein Spiel in vier Akten (play, 1958)Mister, Mister

    Danziger Trilogie Die Blechtrommel (1959) trans. The Tin Drum(1959) ISBN 978-0-679-72575-6.

    Katz und Maus (1961) trans. Cat and Mouse(1963) ISBN 9780156155519

    Hundejahre (1963) trans. Dog Years (1965)ISBN 9780749394509

    Gleisdreieck (poems, 1960) Die Plebejer proben den Aufstand (play, 1966) trans.

    The Plebeians Rehearse the Uprising (1966) Ausgefragt (poems, 1967) ber das Selbstverstndliche. Reden Aufstze

    Oene Briefe Kommentare (speeches, essays,1968) trans. Speak out! Speeches, Open Letters,Commentaries (1969) with 3 additional pieces

    rtlich betubt (1969) trans. Local Anaesthetic(1970) ISBN 9780449242575

    Davor (play, 1970) trans. Max (1972) on a plot fromLocal Anaesthetic

    Aus dem Tagebuch einer Schnecke (1972)trans. From the Diary of a Snail (1973) ISBN9780749394554

    Der Brger und seine Stimme. Reden Aufstze Kom-mentare (speeches, essays, 1974)

    Denkzettel. Politische Reden und Aufstze 19651976 (political essays and speeches, 1978)

    Der Butt (1977) trans. The Flounder (1978) ISBN9780156319355

    Das Treen in Telgte (1979) trans. The Meeting atTelgte (1981)

    Kopfgeburten oder Die Deutschen sterben aus (1980)trans. Headbirths, or, the Germans are Dying Out(1982)

    Widerstand lernen. Politische Gegenreden 19801983 (political speeches, 1984)

    Die Rttin (1986) trans. The Rat (1987) ISBN9780156758307

    Zunge zeigen. Ein Tagebuch in Zeichnungen (A Di-ary in Drawings, 1988) trans. Show Your Tongue(1989)

    Unkenrufe (1992) trans. The Call of the Toad(1992) ISBN 9780156153409

    Ein weites Feld (1995) trans. Too Far Aeld (2000)ISBN 9780156014168

    Mein Jahrhundert (1999) trans. My Century (1999)ISBN 9780156011419

    Im Krebsgang (2002) trans. Crabwalk (2002) ISBN9780156029704

    Letzte Tnze (poems, 2003) Beim Huten der Zwiebel (2006) trans. Peeling the

    Onion (2007) ISBN 9780156035347 rst volumeof memoir

    Dummer August (poems, 2007) Die Box (2008) trans. The Box (2010) ISBN9780099539759 second volume of memoir

    Unterwegs von Deutschland nach Deutschland.Tagebuch 1990. (2009) trans. From Ger-many to Germany: Diary 1990 (2012) ISBN9780547364605

    Grimms Wrter (2010) Third volume of memoir.[72]

    Collections in English translation

    Four Plays (1967) including Ten Minutes to Bualo In the Egg and Other Poems (1977) Two States One Nation? (1990)[72]

    11 See also List of Nobel laureates in Literature List of people declared persona non grata

  • 712 References[1] Zunge heraus. Der Spiegel. 4 September 1963. (...)

    wurde Gnter Wilhelm Gra am 16. Oktober 1927 ge-boren.

    [2] Gnter Grass nie yje. Noblista mia 87 lat. GazetaWyborcza. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014.Pytany o tosamo narodow, mwi, e jest Kaszub.(Asking about his ethnicity, he always said that hesKashubian)

    [3] Portrt: Der unbequeme Nationaldichter. Focus. 13April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2014. Aber wenigehaben auch soviel einstecken mssen wie der Kaschubeaus Danzig. (But, just few people had to take ak like themustachioed Kashubian from Gdansk)

    [4] Woods, Tim (2008). Grass, Gnter. Whos Who ofTwentieth Century Novelists. Routledge.

    [5] Kulish, Nicholas; Bronner, Ethan (8 April 2012). GunterGrass tries to hose down row over Israel. The SydneyMorning Herald. Retrieved 8 April 2012. GUNTERGrass, Germanys most famous living writer, has tried toquell the growing controversy...

    [6] Outrage in Germany. Der Spiegel. 4 April 2012. Re-trieved 4 April 2012. Gnter Grass, Germanys most fa-mous living author and the 1999 recipient of the NobelPrize in literature...

    [7] Yishai: Gnter Grass not welcome in Israel. TheJerusalem Post. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 4 April 2012.Germanys most famous living writer, the Nobel literaturelaureate Gnter Grass...

    [8] Harding, Luke; Sherwood, Harriet (8 April 2012).Outcry as Gunter Grass poem strongly criticises Israel.The Hindu (Chennai, India). Retrieved 8 April 2012.During his long literary career, Gunter Grass has beenmany things. Author, playwright, sculptor and, unques-tionably, Germanys most famous living writer. There isthe 1999 Nobel Prize and Mr. Grasss broader post-warrole as the countrys moral conscience...

    [9] Polnische Ostseekste, Danzig, Masuren. Klaus Klp-pel, Olaf Matthei. Er bezeichnet sich selbst gerne alsKaschube

    [10] The Nobel Prize in Literature 1999. Nobelprize.org.Retrieved 8 October 2009.

    [11] Garland, The Oxford Companion to German Literature, p.302.

    [12] The Literary Encyclopedia, Gnter Grass (b. 1927).Retrieved on 16 August 2006.

    [13] Wer ist Gnter Grass?". Der Tagesspiegel.

    [14] Mayer, Claudia (2002). Gnter Grass. DeutscherTaschenbuch Verlag. p. 16.

    [15] Katholischen Mief.Und Grass wundert sich: Die f-fentliche Selbstrechtfertigung des groen Schriftstellersist so unntig wie rgerlich. Die Zeit. 2006.

    [16] Nobel prize winner Grass admits serving in SS. Reuters.11 August 2006. Archived from the original on 25 August2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.

    [17] Autor Gnter Grass: Ich warMitglied derWaen-SS"".Der Spiegel. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.

    [18] Gnter Grass was in theWaen SS Survey of reactionsto disclosure of time in the Waen-SS from the Germanand international press

    [19] Gnter Grass im Interview: Warum ich nach sechzigJahren mein Schweigen breche"". Feuilleton. Retrieved31 October 2010.

    [20] Taberner, S. (Ed.)., ed. (2009). The Cambridge Compan-ion to Gnter Grass. Cambridge University Presses. pp.xivxviii.

    [21] Donahue, Patrick (April 13, 2005). Guenter Grass,German Writer Who Took On Nazism, Dies at 87.Bloomberg. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

    [22] Nobelpreistrger drckt dem SC Freiburg die Daumen.RP Online. 20 February 2000. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

    [23] International Law Reports (1948) by Elihu Lauterpacht,page 207

    [24] The Thomas Mann Handbook (2013) by Emily Smith,page 168

    [25] Gunter_Grass. New World Encyclopedia. RetrievedApril 15, 2015.

    [26] Author of Tin Drum, Gnter Grass died. DC Books.Retrieved April 15, 2015.

    [27] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House. pp. passim.

    [28] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House. p. 1.

    [29] O'Neill, Patrick (2009). The Exploratory Fiction ofGnter Grass. In Taberner, S. (Ed.). The CambridgeCompanion to Gnter Grass. Cambridge University Press.

    [30] Finch, Helen (2009). Gnter Grass and Gender. InTaberner, S. (Ed.). The Cambridge Companion to Gn-ter Grass. Cambridge University Press.

    [31] Krimmer, E. (2008). ""Ein Volk von Opfern?" Germansas Victims in Gnter Grasss Die Blechtrommel and ImKrebsgang. Seminar: A Journal of Germanic Studies(University of Toronto Press.) 44 (2): 272290.

    [32] Stephen Kinzer. Gnter Grass, German Novelist and So-cial Critic, Dies at 87. The New York Times.

    [33] Izvor Moralic (October 1, 2006). Book Review: GnterGrass Peeling the Onion Gnter Grass articulates his life,eloquently describing the troubles of the post-war genera-tion and the desperate attempt to rebuild a life out of ruinswhile coming to terms with ones own guilt.. Viennare-view.net.

    [34] Tim Gardan. Confessions of a super Grass. TheGuardian.com. 'Peeled, it renews itself; chopped, it bringstears; only during peeling does it speak the truth.'

  • 8 13 EXTERNAL LINKS

    [35] Arnds, P. O. (2004). Representation, subversion, and eu-genics in Gnter Grasss The tin drum. Camden House.

    [36] Taberner, S. (Ed.)., ed. (2009). The Cambridge Compan-ion to Gnter Grass. Cambridge University Press.

    [37] Braun, R. (2008). Constructing Authorship in the Work ofGnter Grass. Oxford University Press.

    [38] Arnds, P. O. (2009). Gunther Grass and Magical Real-ism. In Taberner, S. (Ed.). The Cambridge Companionto Gnter Grass. Cambridge University Press.

    [39] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House.

    [40] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House. pp. 107, 146,195.

    [41] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House. p. 53.

    [42] Mews, S. (2008). Gnter Grass and His Critics: From TheTin Drum to Crabwalk. Camden House. p. 55.

    [43] Rckgabe von Beutekunst: Die letzten deutschen Kriegs-gefangenen. Feuilleton. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 31October 2010.

    [44] Der Spiegel.

    [45] Bar-Zohar, Ophir; Ravid, Barak (8 April 2012). InteriorMinister declares Gunter Grass persona non grata in Is-rael. Haaretz. Retrieved 8 April 2012.

    [46] Gnter Grass (5 April 2012). "'What Must Be Said'". TheGuardian (London). Retrieved 15 January 2013.

    [47] Weinthal, Benjamin (3 January 2013). BenjaminWeinthal: Berlin politicians split over Grass travel ban.The Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 15 January 2013.

    [48] Avi Primor, Peeling Gunther Grass Israeli Onion, IsraelJournal of Foreign Aairs, Vol. 6, No. 2 (2012), p. 103(PDF)

    [49] Newsticker. Sddeutsche Zeitung.

    [50] Gunter Grass stands by poem about Greece and Europe.Ekathimerini. 27 May 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2013.

    [51] Royal Society of Literature All Fellows. Royal Societyof Literature. Retrieved 8 August 2010.

    [52] Gunter Grass House Lubeck.

    [53] Gunter Grass bliver rets Europer. Jyllandsposten.

    [54] Ich war Mitglied der Waen-SS (in German). Frank-furter Allgemeine Gesellschaft. 11 August 2006. Re-trieved 13 April 2015.

    [55] Grass rumte als Kriegsgefangener Waen-SS-Mitgliedschaft ein. Der Spiegel. Retrieved 31 October2010.

    [56] Noble laureate Gnter Grass dead at 87. The New YorkPost. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

    [57] Grass, Gnter (4 June 2007). How I Spent the War: Arecruit in the Waen S.S.. The New Yorker. Retrieved24 May 2007.

    [58] Guenter Grass served in Waen SS. BBC News. 11August 2006. Retrieved 11 August 2006.

    [59] Grass admits serving in Waen SS. Reuters. 13 August2006. Retrieved 13 August 2006.

    [60] Nobel Prize Winner Grass Under Fire for Belated SSConfession. Deutsche Welle. 14 August 2006. Re-trieved 13 April 2015.

    [61] Irving, John (19 August 2006). Gnter Grass is my hero,as a writer and a moral compass. The Guardian (London:Guardian Media Group). Retrieved 19 August 2006.

    [62] Echo auf Grass SS-Vergangenheit: Ende einer moralis-chen Instanz"". Der Spiegel. 12 August 2006. Retrieved31 October 2010.

    [63] SS-Vergangenheit: Walesa macht Grass Ehrenbrger-wrde streitig. Der Spiegel. Retrieved 31 October 2010.

    [64] Kurski: Grass nie rozumie, czym zrani Polakw (inPolish). Wiadomoci. 17 August 2006. Retrieved 13April 2015.

    [65] Kraj Gazeta.pl. Serwisy.gazeta.pl. Retrieved 31 Oc-tober 2010.

    [66] http://bi.gazeta.pl/im/4/3561/m3561294.jpg

    [67] Rakowiec, Magorzata (14 August 2006). Grass asked togive up Polish title. Reuters (Edinburgh). Retrieved 14August 2006.

    [68] Renowned German author Gnter Grass dies, aged 87.DW.de. Retrieved April 14, 2015.

    [69] German author Guenter Grass dies, BBC News, 13 April2015.

    [70] Richard Lea. Gnter Grass, Nobel-winning Germannovelist, dies aged 87. the Guardian.

    [71] John Irving verabschiedet Gnter Grass, LbeckerNachrichten, 25 April 2015, p. 18.

    [72] The Nobel Prize in Literature 1999: Gnter Grass Bib-liography. Nobelprize.org. Retrieved 13 April 2015.

    13 External links Works by or about Gnter Grass in libraries(WorldCat catalog)

    Gnter Grass at perlentaucher.de das Kultur-magazin (German)

    Gnter Grass at gdansk-life.com (English) Gnter Grass 'Bookweb' on literary website The

    Ledge (with suggestions for further reading) Portrait on rosenthalusa.com

  • 9 Grass admits serving with Waen-SS article inThe Guardian

    Detailed article on Waen-SS membership Ganey, Elizabeth (Summer 1991). Gunter Grass,The Art of Fiction No. 124. The Paris Review.

    O'Hagan, Andrew (2007). Real Audio interviewwith Gnter Grass and Norman Mailer. NYPL.

    World famous German writer Gunter Grass talksabout his controversial masterpiece, The Tin Drum,on World Book Club. BBC World Service (BBC).3 October 2009.

  • 10 14 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

    14 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses14.1 Text

    Gnter Grass Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%BCnter%20Grass?oldid=659571364 Contributors: Peter Winnberg, WojPob,Ed Poor, Rmhermen, Space Cadet, KF, Quercusrobur, Olivier, Stevertigo, Gdarin, Tiles, Kosebamse, Docu, DropDeadGorgias, Dj-mutex, Jiang, John K, Mxn, RickK, Wik, Pedant17, Tpbradbury, Maximus Rex, LMB, Melody, Nickshanks, Joy, JorgeGG, Huangdi,PuzzletChung, Dimadick, Kommiec, Bearcat, Robbot, Nico~enwiki, Chris 73, Altenmann, Naddy, Sverdrup, Halibutt, Asparagus, Lysy,Masque~enwiki, Yeti~enwiki, Gtrmp, Ferkelparade, Suitov, Alison, Henry Flower, Jdavidb, Kpalion, Matthead, Avala, Chameleon, Sca,Gdunsk, ClockworkLunch, The Land, Klemen Kocjancic, Schwartz und Weiss, N-k, D6, Jayjg, Jondumitru, Leibniz, Caillan, Vapour,Dave87, Fabian Haidekker, Kenb215, Bender235, Johannes Rohr, Kwamikagami, Hayabusa future, Bill Thayer, Giraedata, Nk, Dar-winek, Photonique, Leifern, Jumbuck, Philip Cross, Alex '05, Denniss, Binabik80, Florian K., Kusma, GabrielF, Gene Nygaard, JALock-hart, Angr, FeanorStar7, RHaworth, Scriberius, Valtam, Pius Aeneas, Before My Ken, J M Rice, Doric Loon, Ggonnell, Karam.Anthony.K,Dkurz, Emerson7, Mandarax, Graham87, Rachel1, Ted Wilkes, Koavf, Bruce1ee, Tyoda, SpNeo, FlaBot, NekoDaemon, Elmer Clark,Vilcxjo, OpenToppedBus, Chobot, DVdm, The Rambling Man, YurikBot, Noclador, RussBot, Tresckow, Hydrargyrum, Gaius Cornelius,Neilbeach, Manxruler, Escheel, LiniShu, Astorknlam, Jansch~enwiki, Nick, Gerhard51, BOT-Superzerocool, Maunus, Mareklug, Sydne,Norvo, Sandstein, Szwedzki, Eeksypeeksy, Homagetocatalonia, Poldy Bloom, Teiladnam, Arthur Rubin, Doktor Waterhouse, Andjam,Tyrenius, Garion96, Otto ter Haar, robot, Resolute, SmackBot, Thaagenson, Brianyoumans, Unyoyega, Giraldusfaber, Delldot,Mgreenbe, Kudzu1, Kevinalewis, MalafayaBot, Josefec, Je5102, DHN-bot~enwiki, Hongooi, Dr. Dan, George Ho, Joel s, Can't sleep,clown will eat me, KaiserbBot, Auseklis (usurped), Anthon.E, Caprosser, Mrsh33, Skinnyweed, Ohconfucius, Kuzaar, SashatoBot,Ser Amantio di Nicolao, Rklawton, John, Michael Bednarek, Catstail, Slasher-fun, Beetstra, Doczilla, Kuwi e, MTSbot~enwiki, Jose77,Nonexistant User, Laurens-af, Sander Sde, SEF23a, Joey80, Kowalmistrz~enwiki, Drinibot, MFlet1, Lentower, Jedudedek, Chrisahn,Zmjezhd, Cydebot, Meowy, Tectar, 79spirit, Blaise Mann, DumbBOT, Epanalepsis, Nishidani, Thijs!bot, Biruitorul, Knarf-bz~enwiki,PureLogic, Headbomb, JesperLrke, RobotG, Seaphoto, Shirt58, Carolmooredc, Smith2006, Jayron32, Modernist, Camptown, Vistor,VictorAnyakin, Sluzzelin, JAnDbot, Gcm, Dsp13, Eifel, Getaway, Rothorpe, .anacondabot, Magioladitis, Connormah, Charlescron, Bong-warrior, Dekimasu, Jramsay1927, Akhonji, RuthieK, A riki kiki, AchtungAchtung, Rulsm, Shockws, Shockwsa, GattoVerde, Exiledone,Cropreate, Weirdali, Myrthe, CommonsDelinker, Kimse, Btouburg, Athene cunicularia, Aboutmovies, Salutpokemon, Plasticup, STeam-Traen, DadaNeem, Thesis4Eva, Olegwiki, Madhava 1947, Kolja21, Donmike10, Sparafucil, Alan012, Almw113, VolkovBot, Alnok-taBOT, TXiKiBoT, EricSerge, Oystermind, Snowbot, Rumiton, CoolKid1993, Kaow, Prayspot, Jajafe, Gimbrinel~enwiki, Ceranthor,Wesener, NiallBXL, Lancelot, Romuald Wrblewski, SieBot, Ponticateus, Kernel Saunters, thelwold, Etgothome, Yintan, ReadQT,Monegasque, OKBot, Vice regent, Denisarona, All Hallows Wraith, Reader34, Der Golem, Parkwells, P. S. Burton, Jeanenawhitney, Au-tospark, Bono06, EdQuine, Doprendek, AlanM1, Dthomsen8, TFBCT1, Addbot, Smetanahue, Pommerland, Favonian, Pince Nez, Deni-cho, Zep Kalb, Sindinero, QuadrivialMind, Luckas-bot, Yobot, Themfromspace, Nallimbot, AnomieBOT, FlopsyMopsy and Cottonmouth,Materialscientist, ArthurBot, LilHelpa, Xqbot, Yurekh, Omnipaedista, GinoBartali, Coltsfan, Headhitter, Mattis, AsiBakshish, Haldraper,Green Cardamom, UweBayern, FrescoBot, NSH002, Anna Roy, Dragon2Zero, Poguttke, Catsheye, Masterknighted, Cs32en, Alosolo,Plucas58, Moonraker, RedBot, Pristino, Jauhienij, Gerda Arendt, Lightlowemon, Callanecc, Actoreng1, Satdeep Gill, WillNess, Rjwilmsi-Bot, RepliCarter, Bossanoven, Autumnalmonk, Reginald gray, Pinkbeast, EmausBot, Vsop.de, Dewritech, Ferocious osmosis, CGN2010,K6ka, Mikedj1982, , H3llBot, IIIraute, Josh Gorand, Accotink2, BartlebytheScrivener, BabbaQ, Bwberlin, ClueBot NG, Ilove-andrea, Georgepauljohnringo, RJFF, Frietjes, Spoketrip11, Thurstonleeds, BG19bot, Mottengott, Monster4711, Harizotoh9, CAWylie,Eduardofeld, FantasticFive, Egeymi, JYBot, Somename somewhere, Lindsla, DA - DP, Dexbot, Alexgramma4, Lugia2453, TDKRChicago 101, Charan Gill, TeriEmbrey, Pepsiwithcoke, JewishAngle2013, Pltcult, Outbox123, Tadeusz Nowak, Dai Pritchard, BohemianBaltimore, Radomsko, RaeBinr4, Somapages, Nkkenbuer, ZJOEY, AndrewCLivingston, Tytyty55464, Abimanyuraja, TheDarkLord-OfCheese, George567567, APerson44332, Mister Wayne aka Batman! and Anonymous: 254

    14.2 Images File:1_Gulden_(Freie_Stadt_Danzig_1923)_aversum.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/20/1_Gulden_

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    File:Gnter_Grass_(1986)_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c8/G%C3%BCnter_Grass_%281986%29_by_Erling_Mandelmann.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: photoErlingMandelmann.ch Originalartist: Erling Mandelmann

    File:Gnter_Grass_pre-war_house_in_Gdask_during_a_small_snowstorm.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/G%C3%BCnter_Grass_pre-war_house_in_Gda%C5%84sk_during_a_small_snowstorm.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0Contributors: Own work Original artist: Starscream

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  • 14.3 Content license 11

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    14.3 Content license Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0

    Early lifePersonal lifeMajor worksDanzig TrilogyThe FlounderMy Century and CrabwalkMemoir trilogy

    Main themes and literary styleReception by critics and colleaguesSocial and political activismAwards and honoursWaffen-SS revelationsDeathBibliographySee alsoReferencesExternal linksText and image sources, contributors, and licensesTextImagesContent license