How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
They'd brought in flamethrowers and, shying away from a frontal assault, had decided to smoke out the remaining defenders. This had moved Dr. Kichon to take off his steel helmet, seize a bedsheet, and when that didn't seem enough, pull out his silk handkerchief, wave them both, offer the surrender of the Polish Post Office (19.32).
Yeah, so once an army gets close enough to start using flamethrowers on you, it's a good idea to start waving a white flag. This vignette mirrors the larger situation: the Germans completely outgunned the Polish army, and Poland fell within weeks.
Quote #5
And so the squadrons charged the steel-gray flanks, and gave a further tinge of red to the evening's glow upon the land. I hope you'll forgive Oskar for adding this final couplet and for the poetic nature of the battle scene. I might have done better to indicate the number of men lost by the Polish cavalry, and commemorate the so-called Polish Campaign with dry but impressive statistics, But if asked, I could introduce an asterisk here, add a footnote, and let the poem stand (20.24).
Oskar couldn't care less about the number of Polish soldiers killed. He's mocking the idea of the tragic war heroes by romanticizing the scene and dismissing the reality of the situation. Is this Grass ridiculing the idea of the glory of war?
Quote #6
They shouted at him to show them his palms […] all of which provoked my Kalmuck, who had been watching calmly up till then through narrowed eyes, to set me down carefully, reach behind him, bring something into horizontal position, and fire from the hip, emptying the whole magazine, firing before Matzerath could choke to death (31.50).
It's payback time for Nazi collaborators in Poland when the Russian army arrives to liberate the country. Not everyone in the novel dies at the hands of the Nazis. The Allies kill Oskar's lover in the Normandy invasion.