Günter Grass was in the Waffen-SS

Italian political scientist Gian Enrico Rusconi interprets Grass's statements as "a subtle shift in German's collectif perception of their own past ... The new generations, more than others, have had to prove that they felt ashamed in the name of the entire nation and Günter Grass has been, in the name of collective responsibility, both protagonist and prisoner of this critical and emancipating process. In more recent times Germany has gained new national dignity and Grass has been able to take a fresh look - not of indulgence, but of liberation. His admission is no mundane matter, but a signal for the whole nation ... It is a sort of 'literary permission' to launch a collective experience that the writer wants once again to be able to interpret."

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