Problem of Corpses for Jewish Medical Students in the Polish Universities Amicably Settled

The bitterly disputed problem of furnishing Jewish corpses for the use of Jewish students in the medical schools of the Polish universities has at last been settled to the mutual satisfaction of the Jewish students, the Jewish community, the Christian students, the government, and the medical schools. By the terms of a ruling from the ministry of the interior all Jewish corpses in the hospitals which are not claimed by relatives up to fourth cousins will be sent to the medical schools for anatomical purposes.

The problem had resulted in strained relations between Jewish and Christian medical students, the latter resenting the use of Christian corpses by the Jewish students. The agreement now reached is exactly the settlement to which Jewish medical students have been prepared to acquiesce in for the last eight years. The Polish rabbinate, however, has been opposed to the delivery of Jewish corpses by relatives for anatomical purposes, basing its opposition on Jewish religious laws which forbid such procedure.