The Law on the Prevention of the Birth of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases ( German: Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses ) is the law of Nazi Germany, adopted on July 14, 1933, and entered into force on January 1, 1934. The law provided for the forced sterilization of certain categories of citizens in order to preserve the purity of the " Aryan race " and to prevent the birth of offspring with possible genetic diseases. Over the period 1933-1945, about 400 thousand people were forcibly sterilized.
| Law on the prevention of the birth of offspring with hereditary diseases | |
|---|---|
| him. Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses | |
 | |
| Branch of law | Medical law |
| View | law of the Third Reich |
| Adoption | July 14, 1933 |
| Entry into force | January 1, 1934 |
| Loss of strength | 1974 ( Germany ) 1946 ( SZOG ) |
| (German) Electronic version | |
Content
- 1 Content of the law
- 2 Law changes
- 3 The fate of the law
- 4 See also
- 5 notes
- 6 Literature
- 7 References
Content of the Law
According to this law, persons who did not meet the notions of racial hygiene were subjected to forced sterilization to ensure the cleanliness of the gene pool of the German people and the non-proliferation of “hereditary diseases” for future generations. According to the text of § 1 of the law, the following were recognized as hereditary diseases from which it is necessary to protect the gene pool:
- Congenital dementia
- Schizophrenia
- Affective insanity
- Hereditary Epilepsy
- Huntington's Disease
- Inherited blindness
- Hereditary Deafness
- Severe physical malformations
- Severe forms of alcoholism
Also, all survivors of partially Jewish descent and persons of partially African descent , as well as gypsies and yenishes, should have been subjected to forced sterilization.
To ensure the functioning of the law, special “tribunals for the hereditary health of the population” ( German: Erbgesundheitsgericht ) were created, considering “cases” in a strictly formal manner. Cases were instituted at the request of doctors or other medical personnel. The court decision could be appealed within a month. Sterilization was carried out only in the event of the final entry into force of the decision. In case of resistance of persons in respect of whom sterilization was ordered, the police were involved, ensuring the enforcement of the court decision. Persons involved in the consideration of the “case” and in the enforcement of the decision were required not to disclose information about the materials of the “case” under pain of criminal prosecution (up to a year in prison).
Law Changes
By a decree of June 26, 1935, the law was slightly amended with regard to the procedures for its implementation. In addition, the new version of the law provided for the permission of abortion for women to be sterilized, while termination of pregnancy in the case of a healthy “Aryan” fetus was prohibited by law.
The new version of the law also provided for "voluntary" castration of men convicted under paragraphs 175-178, 183, 223-226 for sexual offenses. In addition to rapists and molesters of minors, an addition to the law provided for castration “of their own free will” for homosexual men, either already convicted under § 175 or already serving time under these paragraphs if there is a risk of relapse in relation to them [1] [2] [3 ] ] .
The second change in the text of the law took place on February 14, 1936, as a result of which the procedures for the execution of the law were again slightly changed.
The fate of the law
After World War II, the law was not repealed by the occupation authorities along with other Nazi laws and continued to operate. In some lands it was abolished in 1945-1946 at the regional level. However, only in 1974 the law was repealed by the Bundestag of Germany at the federal level. At the same time, in the Soviet zone of occupation, the law was repealed on January 8, 1946 and, thus, never had force in the GDR.
It was not until May 28, 1998 that the Bundestag passed a law repealing all decisions made in Nazi times under the Law on the Prevention of the Birth of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases. Thus, the law, which entered into force on August 28, 1998, rehabilitated persons sentenced to sterilization only after decades [4] .
See also
- Killing program T-4
Notes
- ↑ Grau, 2004 , p. 306.
- ↑ Mengel, 2012 , p. 25.
- ↑ Herrn, 1999 , p. 34.
- ↑ Siemens, 2009 , p. 312.
Literature
- Günter Grau . Homosexualität in der NS-Zeit: Dokumente einer Diskriminierung und Verfolgung (German) . - Überarb. Neuausg. - Frankfurt am Mein: Fischer Verlag, 2004 .-- 367 S. - (Die Zeit des Nationalsozialismus). - ISBN 3-596-15973-3 .
- Rainer Herrn. Anders bewegt: 100 Jahre Schwulenbewegung in Deutschland (German) . - 1. Aufl. - Hamburg: MännerschwarmSkript-Verlag, 1999 .-- 80 S. - ISBN 3-928983-78-4 .
- Hans-Joachim Mengel. Strafrechtliche Verfolgung homosexueller Handlungen in Deutschland nach 1945: Zur Rehabilitierung und Entschädigung der nach § 175 und 175a StGB wegen homosexueller Handlungen in der BRD und der DDR Verurteilten (German) . - Berlin: Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Integration und Frauen, 2012 .-- 50 S. Archived July 7, 2012. Archived July 7, 2012 on Wayback Machine
- Daniel Siemens. Horst Wessel: Tod und Verklärung eines Nationalsozialisten (German) . - München: Siedler Verlag, 2009 .-- 352 S. - ISBN 978-3-88680-926-4 .
Links
- The text of the Law on the Prevention of Birth of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases of July 14, 1933 (German)
- The text of the Law on the Prevention of Birth of Progeny with Hereditary Diseases of July 14, 1933 (German)
- Law of 08.25.1998 on the abolition of all court decisions adopted on the basis of the Law of 07.14.1933.