Russian publisher blacks out mention of Stalin and Hitler in book by Nobel laureate Günter Grass

Russian readers have taken to the platform Ozon to voice their concerns over censorship in Günter Grass's novel The Rat, written by the German author and Nobel Prize in Literature recipient. The Verstka news platform initially broke the story, which highlights the removal of a specific phrase in the 2026 Russian edition of the book.

This phrase, "until a certain Hitler and a certain Stalin devoured all of Poland," refers to the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact, the 1939 agreement that divided Poland between Germany and the Soviet Union.

The censorship was observed in both the printed and digital versions of the book. A video shared by a user demonstrates the blacked-out text in the 2026 Russian edition, accompanied by a footnote stating, "This fragment of text has been removed in accordance with the requirements of the legislation of the Russian Federation." This censorship has been noticed in the print and digital editions of the book.

Despite the complaints from buyers, the publisher, Alpina Publisher, claims that the censorship occurred with the consent of the rights holders. In the "Questions About the Product" section, the publisher explains that some fragments of the book were altered in accordance with the rights holders' requirements. Günter Grass, known as one of the most significant German writers of the 20th century, gained worldwide acclaim with his debut novel, The Tin Drum, published in 1959.

Along with Cat and Mouse and Dog Years, The Rat forms part of the Danzig Trilogy. Grass received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1999 before passing away in 2015. The novel The Rat, a dystopian work centered around a conversation between the narrator and a rat, was published in 1986 and was previously unavailable in Russian.