Kosher Butchering and Kosher Butchering Debates in West Germany and the Young Federal Republic (1945/49-1965/72)

• Applicant: Privatdozent Dr. Andreas Brämer
• Subject Area: Religious Studies and Jewish Studies ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: since 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 464800244

It has become noticeable in recent times that slaughtering as practiced by both Jews and Muslims is under scrutiny by legislatures in several European countries. Ritual slaughtering without prior stunning is becoming increasingly difficult, due to restrictive legal norms or by being totally prohibited. Specific plans to revise slaughter laws in Germany do not presently exist, nevertheless religious butchering practices have attracted the attention of right-wing populists, whose political efforts are also regarded by Jewish communities with concern. All but forgotten are, however, the political, legal and social conflicts concerning the religious slaughtering tradition of Jews in the early years of post-war West Germany, which were also used as an opportunity to marginalize, to discredit and to criminalize both Judaism and the Jews.In connection with these observations, the research project is focused on probing kosher meat provisions concerning Jews in post-war Germany as well as on discussions of kosher meat production. The issues involved are to be reconstructed on a broad empirical basis, herewith helping to reshape the collective memory of the post war period. The chronology will essentially pertain to the period between the end of the war (or the founding of the Federal Republic of Germany in 1949, respectively) and the mid 1960s (with an outlook on the passing of the Animal Protection Law in 1972) – hence with emphasis on a younger West German past, in which the dispute on the compulsory stunning of warm-blooded animals still predominantly pertained to the religious practice of the Jewish community in West Germany.This research also strives to provide insights gained of the general nature of Jewish society only a few years after the war as well as of the non-Jewish mainstream society following the "rupture in civilization" (Zivilisationsbruch), in other words to contribute to interpreting and classifying the complex Jewish and non-Jewish relations that existed here after 1945. When questioning the political strategies of Jewish communities and organizations involved in the dispute with various actors of majority society, this project strives to level disciplinary barriers between Jewish studies, German-Jewish history and contemporary general German history. The study focuses on a wide range of interwoven perspectives which will enable us to take a closer look both at Jewish and non Jewish agents and their ties and contacts.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants