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Germany Cool to Calendar Reform; Rabbi Urges Bonn to Oppose It

March 22, 1955
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Little enthusiasm for the current calendar reform proposals was expressed at a meeting here of delegates from all walks of German life, who assembled pursuant to an inquiry by the United Nations Economic and Social Council about the Federal Republic’s views on the subject.

Chief Rabbi Paul Holzer of the British Zone represented the Jewish community and, in the name of the Central Jewish Council, urged on religious grounds that West Germany oppose the reform plans that will be discussed by the Economic and Social Council in May.

Spokesmen for trade, industry and agriculture all voiced skepticism about the advisability of effecting too radical a change. The Catholic and Protestant Churches pointed to the danger of injuring the religious sentiments and sensibilities of the faithful. Bonn Counselor of Ministry Dr. Walther Schultheiss, who was in the chair and who is to formulate the West German reply to the United Nations, summed up by posing the question whether respect for religious convictions and customs could properly be subordinated to considerations of technical efficiency.

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