The best-known Aryan paragraphs are in the
legislation of
Nazi Germany. They served to exclude Jews in particular from organisations, federations, political parties, and, ultimately, all public life. The same ban was extended to
Poles,
Serbs,
Russians, and other
Slavs. The Aryan Paragraph first appeared in the Third Reich in the formulation of the
Law for the Restoration of the Professional Civil Service, which was passed on 7 April 1933. It stipulated that only those of fully Aryan descent, i.e. without Jewish parents or grandparents, could be employed in the civil service. The Aryan Paragraph was extended to education on 25 April 1933, in the ''''. On 30 June of the same year, it was broadened to include even marriage to a "non-Aryan" as sufficient cause for exclusion from a civil service career. In keeping with the Nazi
Gleichschaltung policy, Nazi Party pressure led many federations and organisations to adopt the Aryan Paragraph. Thus, Jews were barred from the public health system, honorary public offices, editorial offices (Editor Law), theatres (
Reichskulturkammer), and agriculture (
Reichserbhofgesetz). This discrimination culminated in the
Nuremberg Laws "for the final separation of Jewry from the German
Volk". Prior to this, there were exceptions, such as for
combat veterans and
honorary Aryans, but now Jews and "Jewish mixed-breeds" (
Mischlinge) were banned from practically all professions. The Aryan Paragraph was accepted largely without protest, except within the
Evangelical Church, where it provoked the splitting off of the
Confessing Church. ==See also==