The intention of the German government to limit the number of non-Aryan doctors to five percent of the total number of practitioners was revealed today in an authoritative statement to newspaper proprietors issued after several newspapers had made inquiries as to the reason why Jews had been prohibited from practicing medicine in cities of more than one hundred thousand population.
The five percent quota also includes the children of Jewish war veterans who are supposed to be exempt from operation of the Aryan clauses in recognition of services to the nation.
The order affecting non-Aryan medical men was issued last Thursday by the Ministry of Labor and prohibited Jewish doctors and dentists in cities of over one hundred thousand population from accepting patients from the sick benefit funds. Since the great majority of Germans are enrolled in these funds, the order was tantamount to barring these doctors from practice.
The order today explains that the Jewish physicians in the larger centers exceed in number the five percent quota which the authorities have agreed on. The order limiting their activities was issued to keep the number of Jewish practitioners down. The decree does not apply to the smaller cities because, at the present time, it would result in a serious shortage of medical service.
Commissar of Health Wagner announced today that Jews had been forbidden to practice as osteopaths and as practitioners of nature cure methods. At the same time, however, to stimulate the development of nature cure methods in Germany, the opening of three colleges for training doctors in these methods was announced. Jews will be forbidden admission to these institutions which will be located at Cologne, Munich and Berlin and any Jew practicing nature cure methods will be punished by imprisonment.
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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.