Grass hits back at Nazi criticism

Nobel Prize-winning German author Gunter Grass insists the backlash following his belated Waffen-SS admission is a concerted attempt to nullify all of his achievements.

Last week, Grass confessed he was recruited into the Waffen-SS, the armed combat wing of Hitler's personal guard, during World War Two, as he prepared to release his Peeling Onions memoirs.

Former Polish President Lech Walesa was so dismayed by The Tin Drum novelist's revelation, he has demanded the 78-year-old renounce his citizenship of the Baltic port Gdansk.

Charlotte Knobloch, president of the German Central Council of Jews, insists Grass' revelation renders his outspoken criticism of Germany for not adequately dealing with its Nazi past meaningless.

Grass hits back: "What I'm experiencing is an attempt to make me persona non grata, to cast doubt about everything I did in my life after that and that later life was marked by shame.

"I'll certainly be hearing accusations about that for a long time. The only thing I can say is: I worked on that question in this book and everything I have to say about the matter is in it."