The Passion Play Committee of Oberammergau disclosed today it was giving special study to the text of the 1960 presentation of the drama after previously rejecting charges that the play was anti-Semitic. The charges had been made by Prof. Robert Gorham Davis of Columbia University.
The committee announced in 1950 that it had the text of the play read by the Association of Christians and Jews, which had been asked to look particularly for any anti-Semitic references or characterizations.
A member of the committee said today that the 300-year-old drama, which deals with the crucifixion of Jesus, had been seen every decade by thousand and that no one had previously criticized it as anti-Semitic. The committee maintained silence on charges by Prof. Davis that most of the leading actors in the play were former active Nazis.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
