Gesetz zur Verhütung erbkranken Nachwuchses
The Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring in Nazi Germany was passed on July 14, 1933, effective January 1934. This law gave rise to the profuse making of the health courts. The Sterilization law permitted complete authority to forcibly sterilize any citizen, who in the opinion of court officials, suffered from genetic disorders, many of which were not actually genetic. When the court outcome was sterilization for the individual in question, the court ruling could be appealed to the Higher Hereditary Health Court (also known as Hereditary Health Supreme Court). Dr. Karl Astel was in charge of the Hereditary Health Supreme Court from 1934 to 1937. The Hereditary Health Courts were responsible for the sterilization of 400,000 persons in less than a decade of operation.