I'd just like to add to what Lewis said and point out that Sweden enacted a law about compulsory sterilization of inferior elements of the population, like gypses and mentally handicapped people in the 30s and it was supported by all major parties (except the communists, I think).
OMG I'd never have expected this from Sweden... 
Taken from wikipedia (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eugenics#Sweden)
"In Sweden, the "Sterilization Act of 1934" provided for the voluntary sterilization of some mental patients. The law was passed while the Swedish Social Democratic Party was in power, though it was also
supported by all other political parties in Parliament at the time, as well as the Lutheran Church and much of the medical profession.[96] From about 1934 to until
1975, Sweden sterilized more than 62,000 people, with Herman Lundborg in the lead of the project.[97]
Sweden sterilized more people than any other European state except Nazi Germany.[98] More people were sterilized in 1948 than any other year."
My boldings. The State Institute for Eugenics was not abolished in Sweden until the 70s.
