Günter Grass and Polish-German Affairs

In this article, the author follows through two main lines of controversy concerning the so-called Grass case, in its German as well as Polish aspects. He shows how this case was excessively influenced by politics. He analyses the Grass case, and tries to understand some reasons, by which the writer was persuaded to so long-lasting silence about his service in Waffen SS. According to him, the main reason of this silence was his fear of public opinion, towards which Grass wanted to play a role of a certain authority. The author concludes that an artist cannot escape from moral responsibility too easily, especially when he is a writer and a public person at the same time. Additionally, he mentions some problems which appear by the way, revealed by the Grass case.