article_snippet.sent: Groening has said Groening volunteered for the Waffen SS in 1941 at age 20, drawn by wartime fervour and 'the elegance of the uniform'.
article_snippet.sent: It was in 1942 that my SS chiefs in Berlin ordered me there. '
article_snippet.sent: I was an official in the prisoners' possessions administration which basically involved removing the money, jewels and other valuables from the inmates, registering it and sending it back to Berlin. '
article_snippet.sent: They had diamonds and gold worth millions and it was my duty to make sure all of it got to Berlin. '
article_snippet.sent: When I saw this I went to my superior officers and made an application for a transfer to the front, to anywhere.
article_snippet.sent: I again made an application for a transfer and at the end of October 1944 I was shipped to the Belgian Ardennes where I served with a fighting unit until capture. '