Rating: 
Summary: Stunning and still relevant.....
Review: "The Deputy" is stunning and still relevant, despite the acidic reviews you might find here contesting the pertinence of this play. It's more than probable the negative ratings in regards to this piece belong to the pious who, instead of looking at the objective facts, hide behind their own grandiose illusions regarding the dogmas into which they have been indoctrinated.Afterall, is there any historical doubt that Pope Pius XII did not publicly condemn the wholesale slaughter of Jews by the Nazi regime? I haven't seen any document stating otherwise. Sure, he made blanket condemnations pronounced in the garb of generalities, but that's not what Hochhuth's play addresses. It's a simple question we must ask: should, as some consider, the highest moral authority on the planet straddle the fence in an attempt not to offend anyone, or should we expect a public condemnation of evil on such a grand scale? This, in my view, and in sum, is the dilemma the play poses to each reader.
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Summary: Denial Adds To Guilt
Review: "The Deputy" is based on documented factual history. In what may be a matter of loyalty to their faith, some Amazon reviewers have claimed that Pope Pius II DID speak out. Such loyalty is understandable when the actions by a leader of one's religious faith are being examined. Hochhuth's vehicle both causes AND thwarts their denial. Historic objectivity very often conflicts with religion and faith. There is far more evidence of Vatican appeasement and toleration of the Nazi movement prior to and during World War II than any protesting. "The Deputy" merely dramatizes some of this. Hochhuth's dramatizing of history does not render it fallacious.
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Summary: No more riots, please. Just read this book.
Review: After reading all of the previous reviews, it's easier to understand why there were riots when this play was produced on stage. This book is painfully addictive. In so many ways, it is one of the most difficult books I have ever read, but also one of the most rewarding. In terms of powerful a story, Its up there with Kleist's "Earthquake in Chile"
Rating: 
Summary: Impossible to be unbiased
Review: After reading the play and reading the reviews at this site, I have come to realize that any person connected with the Catholic faith will object to the history behind this play. Denial is an interesting phenomenon, and everyone uses "facts" to support their beliefs. Perhaps the silence of the Pope is denied because people find it impossible to believe he would be. Perhaps he did do more to save Jews then the play leads one to believe, but in a quiet, in the background kind of way. Many historians, Jewish or otherwise, attest to the fact that the Pope did not openly condemn Hitler and Nazi activities. It is a sad commentary that people are unable to admit guilt by silence, we can see that its acceptance is continued all over the world today. Too bad we can't learn from history's lessons.
Rating: 
Summary: Un-historical rubbish
Review: Based on Herr Hochhuth's emotive arguments, one might suppose the Roman Church was also responsible for both world wars, the Great Depression and the influenza. This is not a book worthy of serious discussion by intelligent people.
Rating:
Summary: The Fantastic Deputy
Review: Hocchuth's play is a piece of anti-Catholic fiction. The characters, the speeches, the accusations are fictious. In fact Pius XII protested repeatedly to the German authorities about the persecution of the Jews. He did more than protest. He personally hid thousands of Jewish refugees in Vatican City and at Castelgandolfo. He encouraged the convents and monasteries of Italy to hide thousands more. Vatican diplomats saved many Jews by providing passports, fake baptismal certificates, and safe conducts. It is indisputable that the energetic interventions of Pius XII in Hungary and Romania saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives. But in Hochhuth's play a fake Pius XII struts around the stage in a daze over stock options. If you want the facts, try Pierre Blet's splendid new book.
Rating:
Summary: The Fantastic Deputy
Review: Hocchuth's play is a piece of anti-Catholic fiction. The characters, the speeches, the accusations are fictious. In fact Pius XII protested repeatedly to the German authorities about the persecution of the Jews. He did more than protest. He personally hid thousands of Jewish refugees in Vatican City and at Castelgandolfo. He encouraged the convents and monasteries of Italy to hide thousands more. Vatican diplomats saved many Jews by providing passports, fake baptismal certificates, and safe conducts. It is indisputable that the energetic interventions of Pius XII in Hungary and Romania saved tens of thousands of Jewish lives. But in Hochhuth's play a fake Pius XII struts around the stage in a daze over stock options. If you want the facts, try Pierre Blet's splendid new book.
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Summary: Fiction can be and here is true to life -I've been there!!
Review: I am disgusted with the two reviews on this site. This book is based on years of painstaking research and in no way an attempt to wash clean the bloody hands of the protestants by shifting blame on Rome. Protestants can be very arrogant and the comments are a sad example. This play is a touching masterpiece. It simply describes the truth and the many-standard morality of which our society is still quite capable. Very worth reading and performing in my opiniion. A work, in its own way more valuable and superior to the diary of Anne Frank. It is fiction but as true as Tolstoy's War and Peace (also fiction).
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Summary: No more riots, please. Just read this book.
Review: I first read The Deputy in 1963 and saw a truncated version of the play in Los Angeles. I have subsequently read the play several times and I believe that the reviewers who think that this is an anti-Catholic polemic miss Hochhuth's purpose in writing the book.
In The Deputy, the Catholic Church is not blamed for the holocaust; the reader understands that the Germans were perpetrators. And he does not excuse Protestants and others for their refusal to act during this terrible time. Students of the Holocaust know that there was more than enough blame to go around in terms of those who did not speak.
What Hochhuth does is to state historical truth regarding Pope Pius XII's refusal to speak. Pius XII was the Deputy of Christ from 1939 to 1958. Between 1939 and 1945, though the Pope was completely aware of what the Germans were doing (mass murders), he never once spoke to criticize the Germans or ask them to stop the murders. This is uncontrovertible fact.
Riccardo Fontana, the fictitious priest (and hero) in The Deputy, represents the finest qualities in man. He is that rarest of creatures, a truly good man. His passion for truth and justice leads to his numerous efforts to persuade Pius XII to action. That he is unable to reach the Pope makes his efforts heart-breakingly tragic.
Riccardo is a Catholic who cannot understand why the Pope (whom he knows personally) does not speak out against one of the worst horrors in the history of mankind. For Riccardo, speaking out is not enough. He demonstrates through action (he is willing to die and actually does) that words of condemnation alone are not enough. That is why Pius XII's unwillingness to speak (much less to act) is seen as such a devastating moral lapse.
I suggest that the reviewers who feel that The Deputy is blatantly anti-Catholic read the play again, in its entirety!
Rating:
Summary: Holocaust Responsibility
Review: I first read The Deputy in 1963 and saw a truncated version of the play in Los Angeles. I have subsequently read the play several times and I believe that the reviewers who think that this is an anti-Catholic polemic miss Hochhuth's purpose in writing the book. In The Deputy, the Catholic Church is not blamed for the holocaust; the reader understands that the Germans were perpetrators (by the way, Hochhuth is Swiss, not German). And he does not excuse Protestants and others for their refusal to act during this terrible time. Students of the Holocaust know that there was more than enough blame to go around in terms of those who did not speak. What Hochhuth does is to state historical truth regarding Pope Pius XII's refusal to speak. Pius XII was the Deputy of Christ from 1939 to 1958. Between 1939 and 1945, though the Pope was completely aware of what the Germans were doing (mass murders), he never once spoke to criticize the Germans or ask them to stop the murders. This is uncontrovertible fact. Riccardo Fontana, the fictitious priest (and hero) in The Deputy, represents the finest qualities in man. He is that rarest of creatures, a truly good man. His passion for truth and justice leads to his numerous efforts to persuade Pius XII to action. That he is unable to reach the Pope makes his efforts heart-breakingly tragic. Riccardo is a Catholic who cannot understand why the Pope (whom he knows personally) does not speak out against one of the worst horrors in the history of mankind. For Riccardo, speaking out is not enough. He demonstrates through action (he is willing to die and actually does) that words of condemnation alone are not enough. That is why Pius XII's unwillingness to speak (much less to act) is seen as such a devastating moral lapse. I suggest that the reviewers who feel that The Deputy is blatantly anti-Catholic read the play again, in its entirety!
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