Early state socialism and eugenics: Premarital medical certificates in Czechoslovakia, East Germany, and Poland in the aftermath of World War II Natalia Jarska Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic Kateřina Lišková Institute of History, Czech Academy of Sciences, Czech Republic Markus Wahl Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen- Nürnberg, Germany Abstract The article discusses the immediate post-war persistence and subsequent rejection of eugenics in East-Central European socialist states, exploring the case of premarital medical certificates. Building our analysis on published and archival sources, we show that immediately after the war, policies formulated at the governmental level were informed by eugenic ideas in medical expertise. Premarital medical certi ficates were aimed at combatting contagious diseases and thus securing a healthy population. Their legal status varied: in Poland, they were formally introduced; in the Soviet Occupied Zone and East Germany, Nazi law was abolished, but local officials still Corresponding author: Natalia Jarska, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of History, Prosecká 809/76 190 00, Prague, Czech Republic. Email: jarska@hiu.cas.cz Article History of the Human Sciences 2025, Vol. 38(1) 51–77 © The Author(s) 2024 Article reuse guidelines: sagepub.com/journals-permissions DOI: 10.1177/09526951241270931 journals.sagepub.com/home/hhs