Ochrona zwierząt i antysemityzm w niemieckim czasopiśmiennictwie specjalistycznym w latach 1919–1939

Abstract

Animal Protection and Antisemitism in German Professional Press in the Years 1919–1939 The article discusses the entanglement of antisemitism and animal protection movement on the basis of the professional press of German veterinarians, animal protectionists, and meat producers from 1919 until 1939. The focal point is the question of shehitah. The article shows to what extent this question was a part of a general debate on the slaughter reform and the development of new stunning methods. Not surprisingly, most of the articles in the analyzed press were in favor of the introduction of the stunning obligation before the slaughter, which was from the Jewish perspective equal to the ban of shehitah. The article differentiates between the arguments of the majority of proponents of the obligation and those of their radical antisemitic colleagues. It argues that the animal protection movement in its majority cannot be described as racist or as a natural partner of national socialists, for only some representatives of it, such as Max Müller or Rudolf Einhauser from Munich, displayed a clear antisemitic rhetoric.