They give those damn Nobels to anyone anymore.
Posted on 08/18/2006 10:08:39 PM PDT by neverdem
Dear Günter Grass,
First: why an open letter? I have never written one before, whereas you have written dozens. You are, so to speak, Europe's leading man of open letters. I admit that the idea of turning the tables on you did appeal to me.
But there is another, more personal reason for my decision to address you in this way. In a newspaper interview about your autobiography, "Peeling the Onion," you have admitted after 60 years, that you belonged to the Waffen SS. I want to make you aware of my feeling of betrayal — a feeling I believe I share with most of your countrymen. And I want to show solidarity with the victims, living and dead, of the regime you tried so hard to prolong.
A public intellectual like yourself is, of course, entitled to preserve a private sphere. But there are certain biographical facts about which it is necessary to be open, as I am sure you would agree. You do not need me to tell you that, for a German of your generation, frankness about your activities during the Third Reich is not merely a moral imperative, but a sine qua non for any kind of public role.
Let me first recall a memorable scene in 1970: Willy Brandt falling on his knees at the memorial to the Warsaw Ghetto. It was the most moving and powerful image of German repentance of the whole postwar era. You were there at his side, representing German culture, as the German chancellor went to sign his historic treaty with Poland and made his spontaneous gesture of atonement for the Holocaust.
Afterward, you wrote to thank Brandt effusively for the privilege of "being allowed to be moved." What strikes me now is the artificiality, not only of the language...
(Excerpt) Read more at nysun.com ...
They give those damn Nobels to anyone anymore.
The author probably was against this Mr. Grass guy before this revelation. Not all of German World War 2 history was about the holocaust against the Jews, and Israel has also honored at least two former Nazis who used their positions to save Jews.
This Grass guy could be bad--are there freepers with lots of knowledge on him who could give some insight? However, the guy could honestly be opposed to his Nazi, SS past.
Because he is a trimmer, that's why. Honesty not required, PC to the bone, finger in the wind. And nobody needs moralizing lessons from such men.
If you would bother to read the article your questions would be answered.
Wafen SS were among the worst, if not the worst, of killers of innocent civilians, jews being by far the biggest recipients of their murderous ways. There was a world of difference between run of the mill nazis and the wafen SS. Over 99 percent of SS members carried out the orders to kill civilians without questions.
It was the job of the SS to move in behind the soldiers and kill the jews as the front moved forward, they were always stationed in occupied areas, and the SS were the ones to run the concentration camps, the ones who killed the men, women and children. In one Russian town alone they killed over 33,000 jews in one day.
Yes, there were other parts to WWII but to the high German officials, killing the jews had top priority and the SS were their executioners.
"He's a long-time bleating leftie, and now it turns out he hid being a Waffen-SS veteran all these years."
Satan's greatest trick is convincing people he doesn't exist; the left's greatest trick was convincing people that Nazism was right-wing.
Another memorable scene: Bitburg cemetery in 1985. President Reagan and Chancellor Kohl commemorated the 40th anniversary of the end of the war, at the height of anti-American agitation. In the snow-covered military cemetery, graves of Waffen SS soldiers were discovered. Americans were scandalized, Germans embarrassed, but the ceremony went ahead.
You joined in the denunciation of Reagan and Kohl for appearing to pay tribute to the dead of the SS. Somehow, though, it didn't occur to you to say that you could easily have been one of them.
Wow! What a piece! Who is Daniel Johnson, and what is his realtionship?
Guy has spent his whole life portraying himself as morally superior and bashing the US while lying about his Waffen SS membership... he's a typical lefty fraud, too bad his bio is selling so well and making him so much money.
I don't know. I just vaguely knew Günter Grass was a useful idiot. Thanks for reminding me to read part II.
I'd like to see some documentation that "over 99 percent" of SS members killed civilians without question. I'm not an apologist for the Waffen-SS, and they certainly committed thousands of atrocities, but I think you're painting with an overly broad brush.
The bombing of Dresden, Hamburg, Berlin, Tokyo, Hiroshima, Nagasaki, etc, etc, doen not mean that "99%" of US Air Force bomber crews deliberately killed civilians.
Also, I find your "world of difference between run of the mill nazis and the waffen SS" a little confusing. Your grasp of history seems a little shaky.
On the Eastern Front they were the most vicious in that universally vicious conflict. You didn't get drafted into the Waffen SS either. So this fellow was where he wanted to be doing what he wanted to do. People do things when they're young that they maught not do later in life, but joining the SS was not just like joining the Marines. It was different and everyone knew how different.
Incidentally, the young German troops were considered the most vicious by the Allies during the final year of the war. Real fanatics who fought to the last ... boy.
One more thing. This fellow served from 43 in the 10th SS Panzer, Frunberg Division. These were the guys who fought the Brit paras at Arnhem. At that time, if you read Connie Ryan's book 'A Bridge to Far' the SS fought a by the Geneva Convention battle. It was surprising becaue to do so was not their reputation.
The big reason the SS fought a Geneva Convention style battle at Arnhem was because the war was lost and the Allies had already announced they would hold war crimes trials after the war. Also, the SS II Panzer Corps (Hohenstaufen & Frundsberg Divisions)commander at that time was a certain Willy Bittrich. Bittrich was just about alone in the leadership of the Waffen SS when it came to fighting fairly.
Grass did, however, volunteer for the SS. And only dedicated little nazis did that.
Please allow me to help clarify.
The Nazis were a political party which most Germans at the time were expected to join. It included everyone from janitor to Führer. The Waffen SS was an elite unit of cold blooded killers.
Wikipedia shows the Waffen SS as 38 combat divisions with 950,000 men that fought in nearly every major battle in WWII. Here's the link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waffen-SS
This site claims they weren't all Germans either. Danish, French, Azeri, Norwegian, Finish and Dutch men filled out the Viking Division. And Wiki says conscripts were not unusual starting in 1943.
Definitely some bad people in there, but I agree that it's hard to say that nearly a million guys (some conscripts) were truly evil.
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo!)
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