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The Nazis passed very few laws in the Reichstag, most were to limit the rights of Germans and German groups to oppose or defy the Nazis. They also passed laws to promote their racial beliefs and to discriminate against non-Aryans.
Examples of general laws
• Reichstag Fire Decree and The Enabling Act in 1933: these acts consolidated Nazi power significantly (see section 3.2)
• Law Against the establishment of Parties in July 1933: which legalised the Nazi ban on all other political parties.
• Law Against Malicious Acts on State and Party in December 1934: which ended freedom of expression and to criticise the Nazis in any way, even in private.
• Hitler Youth Law in 1936 and 1939: banned all non-Nazi youth groups and then made it joining the Hitler Youth compulsory.
• Law for the Prevention of Diseased Progeny in 1933: forced the sterilisation of people with physical or mental disabilities, this was another aspect of the Nazi racial purity idea and Social Darwinism.
In 1933, a number of laws restricted the rights of Jews to work in a number of professions including the Civil Service, the Legal and Medical Professions, Journalism, then in 1935, the Army. In 1935 the Nuremberg Laws were passed.
• The Law for the Protection of German Blood and Honour prohibited Jews from marrying non-Jews, and any sex between the groups was a crime.
• The Reich Citizenship Law defined a German citizen. This definition excluded Jews, and other non-Aryan groups.
The Nazis used the media as a tool for spreading their racist ideology to the German people. Pictured is the front page of a May 1934 edition of the notorious weekly Nazi Newspaper Der Sturmer. The lower headline read: 'Die Juden sind unser ungluck' ('The Jews are our misfortune')
Modern History Transformed Pg 68-69
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Activity
Describe how the Nazis used the legal system to exercise control
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