In an interview with the 'Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung', Grass admitted that he was a member of the Waffen-SS shortly before the end of World War II. As he often used to criticize Germany's long repression of its Nazi past, this late confession caused mixed reactions from indignation to disappointment [11 August 2006].
Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1999.
Biography/bibliography in: "Contemporary Authors". New Revision Series,
Vol. 133, pp. 212-228. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2005.
Strong supporter of the Social Democratic Party of Germany and the
peace movement.
Ranked #1 in a list by "Cicero" magazine searching the "500 leading
German intellectuals" (April 2006).
His parents ran a grocery store in Danzig (now Gdansk, Poland).
President of the Berlin Academy of Arts from 1983 to 1986.
Member of the 'Official Competition' jury at the 41st Venice International Film Festival in 1984.
His daughter with architect and painter Veronika Schröter is the actress Helene Grass. He also has a child, Nele (b. 1979) with book editor Ingrid Krüger.