Jews in Western Europe Enjoy Complete Religious Freedom, U.N. Reports

Western Europe, recovered from the Nazi regime that subjected most of it during World War II, is by and large, a haven of religious and political freedom for Jews, according to a series of United Nations reports prepared here for examination by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights which opened a three-week session in Geneva yesterday to seek measures for the eradication of anti-Semitism.

With the exception of Spain, every single one of the West European countries, from Greece and Italy in the south to the Scandinavian lands in the north, treat the Jew as an equal in law, protecting the Jew’s right to practice his worship as his religious laws demand, according to the reports.

The largest of the Jewish communities in Europe today are in England with 400,000 Jews; in metropolitan France, where the number is estimated at 300,000; and in Italy, where the government statistics list 47,825 Jews. In these countries, the Jewish communities have legal recognition, and freedom of worship is guaranteed by law.

In most of the countries in Western Europe, the practice of Jewish ritual slaughter, in accordance with the Jewish laws of kashruth, is permitted. Where shechita is not allowed, Jews may import meats from nearby areas, the reports indicate.

There have been difficulties in regard to kosher slaughter, in recent years, in Norway and Switzerland, but the reports indicated that satisfactory arrangements for overcoming those restrictions have been effected in cooperation between the Jewish communities and the governments concerned. Switzerland reports a Jewish population of 19, 084, while the Jews in Norway totaled only 836 in the last census reported, in 1950.

NAZI ANNIHILATION OF JEWS IN GREECE, HOLLAND, BELGIUM STRESSED

Here and there, among the reports, figures emerge showing the great loss of life suffered by the Jews during the Nazi regime. The Greek figures note that Salonika alone had, just before World War II erupted, 56,000 Jews. As of 1954, the report shows, all of Greece contained only between 800 and 1, 000 Jews.

A similar picture of the Nazi holocaust is seen from a reading of the report sent in by the government of The Netherlands. The Dutch census of 1947 listed 14, 346 Jews. But the figures show that, in 1938, the Jewish population numbered 120, 000. The report adds this footnote: “It is estimated that, during the German occupation of 1940-1945, not less than 75 percent of the Dutch Jews were executed.”

Belgium, which had about 80,000 Jews before the war, is credited with between 35, 000 and 40, 000 Jews. Like most of the other countries in the Western European block, Belgium too permits freedom of religion and the operation of Jewish religious schools. The Belgian reports notes: “There are many Jewish schools, notably in Brussels and Anvers. “

Even little Liechtenstein notes religious freedom for its Jews, numbering only 41. Luxembourg, which had a flourishing Jewish community before the war, reports that it has now only 870 Jews.

Austria lists 11, 224 Jews, and West Germany reports 17,117 in the Federal Republic proper, with an additional 4, 858 in West Berlin. The laws regarding freedom of religion in both these former hard-core Nazi countries are among the most liberal among all the countries in the world.

Spain is reported having 3, 000 Jews, and Portugal about 2,000. The Spanish laws are seen here by experts as weighted very largely in favor of Catholicism and against any other religious practices. However, it is reported that synagogues exist in Madrid and Barcelona.

The Scandinavian countries are considered as outstanding in their laws protecting freedom of religion, and experts here note that the laws are enforced with commensurate strictness. The Jewish population in Sweden is given as 13,000. Norway lists 836 “Orthodox Jews.” Finland gives the number of Jews as 1,545. Denmark brackets the Jews, without giving a separate figure, among the country’s 70,000 non-members of the Established Lutheran Evangelical Church.

JEWISH RELIGIOUS RIGHTS WELL PROTECTED IN ENGLAND BY GOVERNMENT

Jews in Great Britain, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand enjoy the utmost freedom of religious rights and practices. The report estimates the number of Jews in England and Wales as of 1957, at 400, 000. Scotland is omitted from the Jewish listing. Australia is credited with having 48,436 Jews; New Zealand, 4,500; and the Republic of Ireland, 3,907.

In Great Britain, despite recognition of the Church of England as the Established Church, the Government reported officially to the United Nations that there is “compete freedom of association, worship, speech and publication for every organized religious body. ” Synagogues, like all houses of religious worship, are protected by stiff laws from any kind of disturbance in Britain. For some offenses of this type, life imprisonment is prescribed as the penalty.

The report shows that British Jews need not participate in court proceedings on the Sabbath. They are also permitted to cast their votes in a special manner in instances when elections are held on the Sabbath. Jews are also “afforded special protection,” according to the report, “in certain practices relating to marriage and observance of religious holidays. “

Similar liberal attitudes toward religious practitioners of all forms of worship, including Jews, is reported in the sections dealing with Australia and New Zealand. In Ireland, the report on that country declares, the Government formally recognizes “the Jewish congregations. ” In that country, too, a Slaughter of Animals Act “permits slaughtering of animals for consumption of food in accordance with Jewish regulations. “