Vienna Congress Decides to Propagandize Against Schechita

With the appointment of a jurists’ committee which is to have its headquarters in Paris, to seek national and international legislation for the prevention of cruelty to animals, the international congress of the Societies for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals closed its session here today.

That this committee would include in its work propaganda against the schechita was evident from the fact that its appointment followed a stormy session during which the schechita was discussed. Miss Lind of England, Prof. Mueller of Munich, Herr Kraemer of Berlin as well as the presiding chairman, Melkues, in strong language denounced any method of slaughtering animals without stunning them. Direct references to the schechita were made and the speakers declared that there can be no difference of opinion within the congress on the subject and that in this direction no exception can be made for any people or for any denomination.

It was further declared that the jurists’ committee would endeavor to bring about the establishment by the League of Nations of a committee for the prevention of cruelty to animals.

Today’s issue of the “Juedische Presse,” the organ of the Orthodox Agudath Israel, declares that the congress has shown its true colors when it identified its ostensible work to protect animals with anti-Semitism. The attack of the congress was directed mainly against the schechita, and the delegates did not permit even the pure Aryan scientist, Dr. Basel of Stettin, to speak, because he took an attitude which is (Continued on Page 2)

The paper further alleges that the chairman of the congress was a Jew who permitted aspersions to be made on the Jewish religion and provided an occasion for inflaming anti-Semitic feelings. The paper urges the Jewish members of the societies to resign from these bodies as instead of pursuing their humanitarian purposes they are rapidly being transformed into agencies to spread anti-Semitic propaganda under a false pretense.