Günter Grass describes his life in the Waffen SS

A quite long piece in the NewYorker, but an interesting read from Günter Grass detailing how he ended up as a panzer gunner fighting the Russians. Reads a little like George MacDonald Fraser's tales of his war in Burma. A severe lack of glamour, but chilling stuff.

 

Wasn't his 'coming out' a major shock for the German Left?

 

Really good read that one!

Left me intrigued to know more.

 

It makes me wonder how I (or any of us on ARRSE) would have acted if we had been born in the wrong time and wrong place... I'm a bit of a lefty, but I am sure I'd have been rolling across Europe with my sausage-eating chums...

 

Yeah, know what you mean....

 

Its an excellent piece - I really wonder what happened to the 'Ayran Ideal' who refused to hold a weapon in training, I hope he survived, likewise the Pfc 'first class'.

 

His "coming out" was a bit of "no-news" a little while ago, since he'd mentioned his service yonks ago, but nobody took much notice at the time.

I admire him as a writer, but the man himself is a preposterously pompous prat, who's given to start his sentences with: "We intellectuals ....

I had the (mis?)fortune of being collared by him at a presentation of his fish etchings in a Berlin gallery sometime in the late Seventies. I pretended not to know who he was, which irritated him enormously (Was! Sie wissen wirklich nicht, wer ich bin? - What! You really don't know who I am?). As did the fact that I declared I wasn't interested in his giving me a signed copy of his book "Der Butt" (I don't know the English title).

So, a good writer certainly, but otherwise a total wänker so far up his own arrse he has a tonsil in each cheek.

I've never read any of his books in English, what are they like?

MsG

 

Not exactly a 'light' read, but good stuff.

 

Bugsy mate, I don't know! To my shame I have never read any one of them.
My old German work mates used to get really pished off when I couldn't name a German author who I had read

Any suggestions (In English please, my German just isn't up to it)?

edited for spack grammar

 

I find it strange that all the old boxheads were either in Uboats,Afrika Korps or Waffen SS and none were Concentration camp Guards,still I suppose it hasn't got much Walting potential

 

Link?

 

Who is he anyhow? First time I've heard of him, someone big in Germany I take.

 

Tin Drum is the 'must read' classic

 

sorry R_C, I skillfully hid the link in the original post, have bolded it up for you

 

Cheers A-J, I just read the synopsis in Wikipedia... sounds bonkers! Think I'll get this one from the library rather than splashing out