Person biography:
Günter Grass was born into a merchant family and grew up with a strong sense of responsibility. At the age of 15, he reported for military service in the Second World War and later became a member of the Waffen-SS, serving in the 10th SS Panzer Division Frundsberg. After the war, he was taken prisoner by the Americans until 1946. Grass then began an apprenticeship as a stonemason and later studied graphics and sculpture at the art academy in Düsseldorf. He became a visual arts student with the sculptor Karl Hartung in Berlin in 1953.
