Law Reich Government, under the Enabling Act

Law on the Slaughter of Animals

Gesetz über das Schlachten von Tieren

The law required warm-blooded animals to be stunned before bleeding began, with an exception only for emergency slaughter. It did not mention Jews or religion, but its purpose and effect were to ban Schechita, Jewish ritual slaughter, which religious law requires to be carried out without stunning, throughout the Reich; some states had already introduced such bans. The cabinet adopted it on 4 April, but it is dated, and was published, on 21 April. Breaches were punishable by up to six months’ imprisonment or a fine. An implementing ordinance of the same date appeared in the same issue.

Dated: Friday 21 April 1933
Published in: Reichsgesetzblatt Teil I, no. 39, Friday 21 April 1933, p. 203
Citation: RGBl. I S. 203
In force: Monday 1 May 1933

On the day pages

Passed Day 65, Tuesday 4 April 1933
Published Day 82, Friday 21 April 1933

RGBl. I S. 203. Commons record

The text

Gesetz über das Schlachten von Tieren.

Law on the Slaughter of Animals.

Vom 21. April 1933.

Of 21 April 1933.

Die Reichsregierung hat das folgende Gesetz beschlossen, das hiermit verkündet wird:

The Reich Government has enacted the following law, which is hereby promulgated:

§ 1 Warmblütige Tiere sind beim Schlachten vor Beginn der Blutentziehung zu betäuben.

§ 1 Warm-blooded animals are to be stunned when slaughtered, before the bleeding begins.

Der Reichsminister des Innern kann bestimmen, daß die Vorschrift des Abs. 1 auch beim Schlachten anderer Tiere anzuwenden ist. Solange er von dieser Befugnis keinen Gebrauch macht, können die Landesregierungen oder die von ihnen bestimmten Stellen solche Bestimmungen erlassen.

The Reich Minister of the Interior may determine that the provision of para. 1 is also to be applied to the slaughter of other animals. As long as he does not make use of this power, the state governments or the offices designated by them may issue such provisions.

Bei Notschlachtungen (§ 1 Abs. 3 des Gesetzes über die Schlachtvieh- und Fleischbeschau vom 3. Juni 1900, Reichsgesetzbl. S. 547), bei denen sich die Betäubung des Tieres nach Lage der Verhältnisse nicht ausführen läßt, findet die Vorschrift des Abs. 1 keine Anwendung.

The provision of para. 1 does not apply to emergency slaughter (§ 1, para. 3, of the Law on the Inspection of Slaughter Animals and Meat of 3 June 1900, Reich Law Gazette, p. 547) in which, given the circumstances, the animal cannot be stunned.

§ 2 Die näheren Bestimmungen über das Schlachten der im § 1 bezeichneten Tiere erläßt der Reichsminister des Innern. Solange er von dieser Befugnis keinen Gebrauch macht, können die Landesregierungen oder die von ihnen bestimmten Stellen solche Bestimmungen erlassen.

§ 2 The Reich Minister of the Interior issues the detailed provisions on the slaughter of the animals referred to in § 1. As long as he does not make use of this power, the state governments or the offices designated by them may issue such provisions.

§ 3 Wer vorsätzlich oder fahrlässig der Vorschrift des § 1 Abs. 1 oder einer auf Grund dieses Gesetzes erlassenen Bestimmung zuwiderhandelt, wird mit Gefängnis bis zu sechs Monaten oder mit Geldstrafe bestraft.

§ 3 Whoever intentionally or negligently contravenes the provision of § 1, para. 1, or a provision issued under this law shall be punished with imprisonment of up to six months or with a fine.

§ 4 Dieses Gesetz tritt am 1. Mai 1933 in Kraft. Gleichzeitig tritt die Bekanntmachung über das Schlachten von Tieren vom 2. Juni 1917 (Reichsgesetzbl. S. 471) außer Kraft.

§ 4 This law comes into force on 1 May 1933. At the same time the Notice on the Slaughter of Animals of 2 June 1917 (Reich Law Gazette, p. 471) ceases to be in force.

Berlin, den 21. April 1933.

Berlin, 21 April 1933.

Der Reichskanzler Adolf Hitler

The Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler

Der Reichsminister des Innern Frick

The Reich Minister of the Interior Frick

Der Reichsminister der Justiz Dr. Gürtner

The Reich Minister of Justice Dr Gürtner

Der Reichsminister für Ernährung und Landwirtschaft Hugenberg

The Reich Minister for Food and Agriculture Hugenberg

About this text

The full text is given. Transcribed from the RGBl. scan (issue 39, p. 203; the law ends on that page); no independent transcription was found to compare against. The gazette does not number the paragraphs of § 1.

The English translation was made for this site and is not an official translation. ‘Blutentziehung’ (literally ‘withdrawal of blood’) is rendered as ‘bleeding’, the term for the stage of slaughter in which the animal is bled. The law’s own text is neutral; its purpose is set out in the summary.

German laws and decrees are official works and not protected by copyright (§ 5 UrhG).

Terms

Schächten: The German term for Schechita, Jewish ritual slaughter, in which the animal is killed by a single cut to the throat with a very sharp knife, without prior stunning. Animal-welfare campaigns against it had long been entangled with antisemitism.
Notschlachtung: Emergency slaughter: the immediate killing of a sick or injured animal, regulated by the Meat Inspection Law of 1900.
Bekanntmachung vom 2. Juni 1917: A wartime Reich notice on slaughter, repealed by § 4.

Sources

Reichsgesetzblatt 1933 Teil I, Nr. 39 (21. April 1933), S. 203 (Reichsministerium des Innern; scan on Wikimedia Commons)

Gazette scans: public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.