On the basis of Article 17 of the law for the prevention of progeny with hereditary diseases of 14 July 1938 (Reich Law Gazette I p. 529) in combination with the decree of the Fuehrer concerning the total war effort of 25 July 1944 (Reich Law Gazette I p. 161) it is decreed in agreement with the Reich Minister and chief of the Reich Chancellery, the chief of the Party Chancellery and the Plenipotentiary General for the administration of the Reich:
Article 1
(1) The higher hereditary health courts discontinue their activity temporarily—for the duration of the suspension the definite decision is with the hereditary health courts.
(2) A trial pending in the higher hereditary health courts ends with the coming into effect of this decree. With the termination the contested decision becomes legal. The hereditary health court investigates officially, whether a resumption of the proceedings according to article 12, paragraph 2, of the law for prohibiting carriers of inherited diseases to reproduce is ruled in consideration of the terminated proceedings.
(3) Paragraphs 1 and 2 are not valid for cases in which the higher hereditary health court has already passed a resolution at the time when this decree came into effect and has merely not yet delivered it.
Article 2
This decree goes into effect on 1 December 1944.
Berlin, 14 November 1944.
The Reich Minister of the Interior
As deputy: Dr. L. Conti