Editing Rolf Hochhuth (section)

===''Soldiers'' and Sikorski crash theories===

Hochhuth's next play, ''[[Soldiers (play)|Soldiers: An Obituary for Geneva]]'' (1967), claimed that [[Winston Churchill]] was responsible for the death of Polish statesman [[Władysław Sikorski]] in the [[1943 Gibraltar B-24 crash]], contradicting the official version of events as an accident; the play implied that Sikorski had been murdered on Churchill's orders. Unbeknownst to Hochhuth, the pilot of the B-24, [[Eduard Prchal]], was still alive and won a libel case against Hochhuth that seriously affected the London theater which staged the play.<ref>[http://www.firstthings.com/article/2004/04/001-the-end-of-the-pius-wars "''The End of the Pius Wars''"], [[Joseph Bottum (author)|Joseph Bottum]], [[First Things]] Magazine, April 2004, retrieved 1 July 2009</ref>

That aspect of the play has overshadowed Hochhuth's conceit that the play would contribute to a debate on the ethics of the [[area bombardment]] of German cities by the [[Royal Air Force]] (RAF) during [[World War II]], with particular reference to [[Bombing of Hamburg in World War II|Operation Gomorrah]], the Anglo-American air raid on [[Hamburg]] in 1943, and culminating in a fictional debate between [[Winston Churchill]] and the pacifist [[George Bell (bishop)|George Bell]]. The play partially drew on the work of English author [[David Irving]], later known as a [[Holocaust denial|Holocaust denier]]. Irving and Hochhuth remained long-standing friends.<ref>Oliver King [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2005/nov/17/secondworldwar.internationaleducationnews "David Irving arrested in Austria"], ''The Guardian'', 17 November 2005</ref>

Controversy arose in Britain in 1967 when the intended premiere of the play at the [[Royal National Theatre|National Theatre Company]] was cancelled due to an intervention from the theatre's board, despite the support for the play by literary manager [[Kenneth Tynan]] and [[Laurence Olivier]], under pressure from [[Joan Plowright]], his wife. At the time of the controversy, Irving was the only figure who gave his "unequivocal" support for Hochhuth's allegations towards Churchill; others consulted by Tynan considered it highly improbable.<ref>Nicholas de Jongh ''Politics, Prudery and Perversity'', London: Methuen, 2000, p.169-61, 160.</ref> The play was produced shortly afterwards in the West End with [[John Colicos]] in the cast. The English translation was again by [[Robert David MacDonald]]. In the UK, the play was seen on tour in the early 1990s and was revived most recently at the [[Finborough Theatre]], London, in 2004.