These laws represented the dualistic principle of “eradication” on the one hand and “preventive care” on the other. The “Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Ill Offspring”, in force since 1 January 1934, legalised the forced sterilisation of “hereditarily ill” people on the basis of medically controversial definitions. It enabled blatant state intervention against the individual in the name of the health of the “body of the German people”. Propaganda ensured that any existing inhibitions among the population were overcome. Suggestive references were made to a threat that “healthy” Germans would be displaced by a “stronger proliferation of inferior and asocial people” and a “burden on the national community”. The “Law against Dangerous Habitual Criminals and on Measures of Security and Reform” was passed on 24 November 1933. It tightened the penalties for dangerous habitual criminals and strengthened the arbitrariness of the judiciary. This also made it suitable as a state tool against the “enemies of society”.