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I was assigned to the waffen-ss but was never involved in any crime. besides, i always felt the need to write about my experiences in a larger context one day. this has only developed recently, now that i have overcome my inner aversion to writing an autobiography in the first place, specifically one having to do with my younger years.
-Gunter Grass
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I Was Assigned To The Waffen-ss But

Gunter Grass
I was assigned to the waffen-ss but was never involved in any crime. besides, i always felt the need to write about my experiences in a larger context one day. this has only developed recently, now that i have overcome my inner aversion to writing an autobiography in the first place, specifically one having to do with my younger years.
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Topic
Writing Years One Day

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I catch myself judging myself as that 13-year-old boy, who, of course, rightfully points out that he is only a child. and my membership - well, i was drafted into the waffen-ss and didn't exactly volunteer, which was just as idiotic. i wanted to be on the submarines and then ended up with the waffen-ss.
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Yes, one uses what one knows, but autobiography means something else. i should never be able to write a real autobiography; i always end by falsifying and fictionalizing—i’m a liar, in fact. that means i’m a novelist, after all. i write about what i know.
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