The controversy over [The Deputy] rages chiefly around the principal question it asks: Why did God's deputy on earth, Pius XII (Pope from 1934–1958), not speak out in behalf of the Jews during the Hitler terror? (p. 158)

The play is really a projected sermon, written in verse, with a few dramatically exciting scenes and enormous stretches of dialogue. Piscator's introduction to the German text compares The Deputy to Schiller's dramas. But whereas Schiller, like Shakespeare and other earlier writers of historical plays, took liberties with fact, Hochhuth follows the records as closely as possible. In order to encourage belief in his reliability, he appended to the published text a long essay on historical sidelights. (pp. 158-59)

There was little aesthetic controversy among critics, most of whom found The Deputy, particularly in its reduced stage version, not a great play, though often a stimulating one. Perhaps Hochhuth should not have...