Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany

Anti-Jewish legislation in prewar Nazi Germany comprised several laws that segregated the Jews from German society and restricted Jewish people's political, legal and civil rights. Major legislative initiatives included a series of restrictive laws passed in 1933, the Nuremberg Laws of 1935, and a final wave of legislation preceding Germany's entry into World War II.

The Enabling Act established the power of the Nazi Party to pass law by decree, bypassing the approval of parliament. It was passed on March 24, 1933, and effectively nullified the Weimar Constitution.

In April 1933 the Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, or 'Civil Service Law', as it was more commonly known when passed, established the ability of the Nazi Party to legally remove undesirables from the civil service profession, including doctors, teachers and lawyers.

Many local governments also did not allow for the Jews to slaughter animals. In turn, this prevented the Jews from obeying Jewish dietary laws.

This Law created the basis for the years to come, the Nazi party saw "racial purity [as a] condition of superior cultural creation and of the construction of a powerful state". The Civil Service Law was used to purify Germany through excluding Jews from key areas of the German community.

The Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service "defined the three groups of undesirable civil servants and provided for their dismissal". The first group included those who had been appointed after November 9, 1918, and could be removed if they did not have the proper training, which essentially meant anyone could fit into these standards. The Second group were those who were deemed by their past that they would not always support the national state. The third group were any non-Aryans, a way of excluding the Jews without explicitly mentioning 'Jews' in the legislation.

This act of legislation was also passed in April as a supplement to the Civil Service Law. This law specifically attacked judges and public prosecutors, and forbade any Jews from taking the bar exam which was necessary to become a lawyer.

This law affected Jewish doctors and subsequently Jewish healthcare. Passed also in April, under this legislation patients who saw a non-Aryan doctor would not be covered under the national health insurance. Thus excluding Jewish doctors from German society.

As a revolutionary group, the Nazi party then looked toward curbing educational policy. On April 25, 1933 the Law Against the Overcrowding of German schools was passed and required an end to any Weimar teachings that discussed democracy and equality, it enforced the teaching of racial pride.

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