The bill banning shechita, adopted by the Sejm yesterday, provides that the quota of kosher meat permitted the Jews under the present law shall not be changed during 1939 but is to be reduced by one-third in each of the following three years, with complete prohibition becoming effective at the end of 1942. A proposal by Agriculture Minister Poniatowski that the ban be deferred until the end of 1943 was rejected.
The bill was passed by the lower house over the protests of Jewish deputies Emil Sommerstein and Simon Zeidenman, who declared the measure was contrary to the constitution, violated Jewish civil and religious rights and would harm Polish agriculture. The measure, which must be approved by the Senate and signed by President Moscicki before becoming law, also empowers the municipal and communal authorities to take over kosher slaughter, as well as wholesale and retail trade in kosher meat, thus ousting Jews from the meat trade.
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