The Deputy

The Deputy, a Christian tragedy (German: Der Stellvertreter. Ein christliches Trauerspiel), also known as The Representative, is a controversial 1963 drama by Rolf Hochhuth which indicts Pope Pius XII for his failure to take action or speak out against The Holocaust. It has been translated into more than twenty languages.[1]

Productions

The play was first performed in Berlin on February 20, 1963 under the direction of Erwin Piscator.

It received its first English production in London by the Royal Shakespeare Company at the Aldwych Theatre in 1963. It was directed by Clifford Williams with Alan Webb/Eric Porter as Pius XII, Alec McCowen as Father Fontana, and Ian Richardson.

It has since been revived by the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow in 1986 and at the Finborough Theatre, London, in August 2006.

An abridged version opened on Broadway on 26 February, 1964 at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre with Emlyn Williams as Pius XII and Jeremy Brett as Father Fontana. The play ran for 316 performances.

Film adaptation

The Deputy was made into a film Amen. by Costa Gavras in 2002.

Plot

Act I

The play opens with a discussion between Gerstein and the Papal Nuncio of Berlin over whether Pope Pius XII should have abrogated the Reichskonkordat to protest the actions of the Nazis. Father Riccardo Fontana, the priest protagonist, and Gerstein meet for the first time.

A number of German aristrocrats, industrialists, and government officials (including Adolf Eichmann) spend an evening in an underground bowling alley. Despite the commonplace setting the scene is rather macabre: conversations alternate between lighthearted pleasantries and equally dismissive discussions of the treatment of Jews. An icy Catholic industrialist—played by the same actor as Pius—defends his use of slave labor.

The final scene ends with Riccardo meeting Gerstein at his apartment; at the latter's urging, he agrees to trade clothes and documents with a Jew, Jacobson, Gerstein has been hiding in order to help him escape.

Act II

Act II repeatedly attempts to drive home the point that Hitler feared Pius more than any of his contemporaries and that Pius's commercial interests preclude him from condemning Hitler.

One of the Cardinals argues that the Nazis are the last bulwark that remains against Soviet domination of Europe.

Act III

As the Jews are rounded up for deportations "under the Pope's windows," Riccardo declares "doing nothing is as bad as taking part [...] God can forgive a hangman for such work, but not a priest, not the Pope!" and a German officer comments that the Pope has given "friendly audiences to thousands of members of the German army.. Riccardo first voices his idea to follow the example of Bernhard Lichtenberg and to follow the Jews to the death camps in the East, and possibly to share in their fate.

Act IV

Pius, with a "cold, smiling face," "aristocratic coldness," and an "icy glint" in his eyesvoices his concerns about the Vatican's financial assets and the Allied bombing of factories in Italy. Pius verbally reiterates his commitment to help the Jews but states that he must keep silent "'ad maioram mala vitanda" (to avoid greater evil). When angrily questioned by Riccardo, Pius pontificates on the geopolitical importance of a strong Germany vis-a-vis the Soviet threat. Ultimately, Riccardo shames the Pope into dictating a statement for public release; however, its wording is so vague that all are confident it will be ignored by the Germans.

Act V

Riccardo dons the yellow star and joins deportees to die at Auschwitz, where the rest of the act takes place. Although Gerstein appears at the camp in an unsanctioned attempt to rescue him. Unfortunately in the end they are found out, Riccardo shot, and Gerstein taken into custody.

The play ends with a quotation from German ambassador Weizsäcker:

"Since further action on the Jewish problem is probably not to be expected here in Rome, it may be assumed that this question, so troublesome to German-Vatican relations, has been disposed of."

Criticism

Books such as Dr. Joseph Lichten's, A Question of Judgment (1963), written in response to The Deputy, defended Pius XII's actions during the war. Lichten labelled any criticism of the Pope's actions during World War II was "a stupefying paradox" and said, "no one who reads the record of Pius XII's actions on behalf of Jews can subscribe to Hochhuth's accusation."

Hannah Arendt also discusses the play (and public reaction to it) in her 1964 essay "The Deputy: Guilt by Silence?".

External links

• "Catholics Acknowledge the Holocaust: The Influence of The Deputy on the Vatican's Position," college research paper by Melissa Kravetz, 2004