Is it possible to slim a .git repository without rewriting history?

Question

We have a number of git repositories which have grown to an unmanageable size due to the historical inclusion of binary test files and java .jar fi

Answer 1

I honestly can't think of a way to do that. If you think about what Git "promises" you as a user, with regards to data integrity, I can't think of a way you could remove a file from the repository and keep the same hash. In other words, if what you're asking were possible, then Git would be a lot less reliable...