(Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
Limitations upon the Shechita, the Jewish method of slaughtering animals, will be enforced in Bavaria, according to a decision of the Bavarian Diet.
The proposal to prohibit the Shechita in Bavaria was introduced by Deputies Glaser and Drexler, who termed the Shechita “abhorrent to civilization,” citing the example of Switzerland, where the Shechita is prohibited.
Deputy Lent supported this proposal, declaring that “notwithstanding the Constitution which guarantees the freedom of conscience, the horrible practice of Shechita must be abolished. Even the religious convictions of a small minority of the Jews must give way in this respect.”
Other deputies opposed the resolution. The government representative stated that it was legally impossible to prohibit the Shechita because the Jews are forbidden by their religion to eat other meat and the Bavarian Constitution guarantees religious liberty. Experts disagreed on the question, some maintained that Shechita is no more inhumane than any other method of slaughtering animals.
Deputy Schornagel proposed an amendment to limit the Shechita practice according to the proportion of the Jewish population in Bavaria. The original resolution prohibiting the Shechita entirely was defeated, while the amended resolution was passed.
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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.
