The Jewish War Veterans announced today that they will not picket the performances of Roli Hochhuth’s controversial play, “The Deputy,” which opens here tomorrow evening. A spokesman for the organization said: “The JWV has formulated no opinion as to the merits or message of ‘The Deputy,’ and will not participate in any effort to deter or prevent its showing.” The play portrays the late Pope Pius XII as allegedly failing to protest publicly against the Nazi mass-murder of Jews.
The National Conference of Christians and Jews today issued a statement declaring that the “crisis” over the controversial play “can be molded into an opportunity for increased understanding rather than hostility among religious groups if response is mature, restrained and responsible.”
Reactions which are determined “not by feelings of group loyalty and group defensiveness but solely by the merits–or demerits–of the work itself,” were urged in a “Statement of Consensus” signed by an inter-religious group and released by Dr. Lewis Webster Jones, president of the NCCJ. The statement charged Hochhuth with dealing “one-sidedly” with both personalities and historic complexities, but finds the play valuable for posing major questions of moral responsibility.
Joining in the discussion of “The Deputy” on the invitation of the NCCJ, and signing the consensus, were Dr. Harvey Cox, professor of theology at Andover-Newton Theological Seminary, Newton Center, Mass; David Danzig, associate director of the American Jewish Committee; Dr. Tom F. Driver, of the faculty of the Union Theological Seminary here, who is drama critic for the protestant weekly, The Christian Century.
Also Rev. Robert A. Graham, a Jesuit priest, who is associate editor of America, national Catholic weekly; Rabbi Abraham Klausner, Dr. Franklin H. Littell, professor of church history at Chicago Theological Seminary, and Dr. Gordon C. Zaha, professor of sociology at Loyola University, a Catholic institution in Chicago.
In a separate statement issued today, Rabbi Ballour Brickner, director of the Commission on Interfaith Activities of the Union of American Hebrew Congregations (Reform), rejected the suggestion that presentation of “The Deputy” might damage Catholic-Jewish relations. He said the play is not “anti-Catholic.” He held that Jewish Christian relations “have progressed beyond the level where we fear to speak our hearts and minds to one another lest we offend.”
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.
