Court Reporter of the Doctors From Hell
[Guest post by DRJ]
The Houston Chronicle has a fascinating story about local resident and Nuremberg court reporter Vivien Spitz:
“She grew up in Joliet, Ill., during the Great Depression. There wasn’t enough money for Spitz to attend a four-year university, but her mother leveraged some family property so that she could go to business college.
By the time Spitz graduated in 1943, she was writing 260 words per minute in shorthand and disbelieving the news dispatches from the war front.
Spitz is half-German and Catholic. “I just couldn’t believe the Germans were capable of such atrocities.”
To see for herself, she volunteered when the U.S. War Department started recruiting court reporters to help with the trials.
When Spitz arrived in Nuremberg in 1946, she saw a city flattened by bombs. Living conditions were trying, but what gave Spitz nightmares were the remorseless German doctors and their testimony. The physicians used Jews, Gypsies and Catholics from the concentration camps as guinea pigs in a long series of cruel and bizarre medical experiments.”
The article chronicles several experiments, some of which I had not heard about before. Spitz could have easily tried to forget about what she heard but, instead, she set out to give meaning to the phrase “Never forget.” She used trial transcripts to write Doctors From Hell and, at personal risk, she joined the lecture circuit because “[s]he didn’t think the Holocaust was being taught adequately in local schools.”
There really are heroes among us.
— DRJ
What an amazing woman Mrs. Spitz is. It’s so good to be reminded that courage knows no age limit, nor economic or gender limitations – one just has to be bold enough to speak the truth, and brave enough to take the risk – no matter the cost. Instead of pushing down and burying what she knew, heard, and saw, she instead has used it for noble purposes. I’m in awe of her.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/13/2009 @ 5:45 pm“Evil” is said to be an outmoded term. It’s not. Ms. Spitz saw it. And it is odd how, today, we often do not want to see it, and call it what it is: evil.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 5:54 pm“They had taken the Hippocratic oath. They had sworn to heal and cure. Instead, they tortured and killed.”
How timely.
poon (093c46) — 6/13/2009 @ 5:59 pmThere is no reason for poon to exist on this site.
nk (66b387) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:02 pmEric Blair, I think it’s reasonable to think that if these men were tried in today’s modern world, easily more than 7 would be found not guilty. There would be an extenuating circumstance, an historical trauma playing into the causation, blah, blah.
To call it “evil” makes a judgement call and we are becoming less inclined toward doing this. Good and evil become clouded, and the fear of reprisal, even legally, is a consideration. What a sorry state of affairs.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:02 pmOh, come on, poon. Are you actually referring to US actions here?
Do you know anything about Nazi medical atrocities? This is some kind of twisted version of Godwin’s Law with you. You should feel a little shame.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:04 pmAh, more poon droppings. Most city parks, such would result in a fine.
SPQR (26be8b) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:08 pmThere is not a topic on the planet that poon would not be mendoucheous about.
JD (b292bd) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:09 pmAll right, this is a thread that was killed within three comments. Good work, poon.
nk (66b387) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:12 pmI agree with you, Dana. And it gives me joy at all to write that.
Evil exists.
Scott Peck wrote a book about this that I am lukewarm on in some ways, but Peck did say something interesting about his conception of “evil” people. “Evil” people had these things in common:
From small seeds, Nazi sized trees can grow, I fear.
We don’t teach ethics. More accurately, we have worked long and hard to make our ethical views relative on currently popular political viewpoints.
I don’t have an answer. I just know that you are correct in your post, Dana.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:12 pmDRJ – Thank you for pointing me to a story about a great woman that I would not have heard of absent this post.
JD (b292bd) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:12 pmpoon,
It’s clear that your last comment draws a comparison between a physician who comments here and the Nazi doctors charged with WWII atrocities. This is deliberately inflammatory and inappropriate. However, you’re fortunate I have no interest in banning commenters. Instead, I’m placing you in permanent moderation and rest assured I look forward to releasing every comment that, in my judgment, adds to the discussion.
DRJ (180b67) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:12 pmDRJ, I have written to you to thank you via Patterico (since the e-mail we used before no longer works). There are many bright spots to reading this blog, and your contributions mean a great deal.
That is independent of whether or not we agree on a given topic.
I’m sorry you have to deal with people who only post to stir the pot. There is much value here, too. Thank you for being part of it.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:17 pmBy #13, I mean the contents of your posts, as well as your comments, and your moderation! I too had not heard of Ms. Spitz.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:18 pmpoon goes into moderation, and nothing of value was lost.
God Bless Ms. Spitz for her work.
Techie (482700) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:21 pmThank you DRJ, for both the post and the defense of reason.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:22 pmIt’s stunning to me, poon, that instead of marveling and taking inspiration from the courage of one gentle old lady whose boldness and bravery is something we should all hope to aspire to, you instead seek to cause a nasty argument with an unsavory comparison. How dare you. Does your ego know no bounds?
I am sick and tired of commenters here who hijack threads because they are so desperate for attention and with various provocations, essentially are screaming, Me!, Me!, Me!. This is NOT what this blog is about, and the fact that such a compelling piece of history is laid out before you to absorb, consider, and discuss like an adult, you instead attempt to drag us into your gutter, is disgusting.
To help you, Discussion Ideas: Evil, Nobility, Fear, WWII, Nazis, Medical Science, Ethics. For starters.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:24 pmDana – great comment. I find it odd as well that some completely miss the correlation between one important aspect of this incredible story and our current state of affairs.
That correlation is that Spitz was ‘disbelieving the news dispatches from the war front.
Spitz is half-German and Catholic. “I just couldn’t believe the Germans were capable of such atrocities.”‘
Hm. So, faced with information that would be uncomfortable to reconcile with her own history and experience, rather than circle the wagons and start the propaganda presses, Spitz chose instead to seek out the truth of the matter.
Confronted daily with cynical partisanship, it’s astonishing how strange and heroic the search for truth seems in our current time.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/13/2009 @ 6:39 pmWonderful post, DRJ. Thanks for passing this story along.
Paul (creator of "Staunch Brayer") (bcc87c) — 6/13/2009 @ 7:47 pmDana, do you know this story, also from WWII?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unit_731
The way I heard it, we made a deal with Shirō Ishii: we got his data, and he didn’t hang. I couldn’t have done it. MacArthur did, and I just don’t understand it Shirō Ishii should have had his trial and danced Danny Deever.
There are several books on Unit 731.
And some say evil doesn’t exist.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 7:47 pmDRJ has found a near-perfect solution.
And the story of a search for truth, even when it hurts, was inspiring. Megadittos to Apogee’s observation about cynical partisanship. It is tragic for this nation to be dragged down and degraded by the pettiness and egomania of our political leaders.
Brother Bradley J. Fikes, C.O.R. (0ea407) — 6/13/2009 @ 7:51 pmHere is a followup on Unit 731, Dana…
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-439776/Doctors-Depravity.html
Unbelievable. This is why the throwing around of terms like “fascist” or “torture” is a problem: it desensitizes people to the REAL thing.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 7:57 pmPolitics and political correctness becomes a problem. William Arens wrote a book in the late 1970s claiming that cannibalism was never common in early cultures, and was instead a “racist” construct. It didn’t matter that there was plenty of evidence for the practice then, and now.
He just couldn’t understand cannibalism, so it had to be cultural libel toward other cultures by the dominant European hegemony.
Sigh. Cultural relativism gone mad.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 8:08 pmInteresting links, Eric. I had not read much in-depth details of Unit 731. It is never without a sense of revulsion when being reminded of the deep evil man is not only capable of, but even more stunning, the ability to easily justify such evil. In regard to justification, this struck me,
It was the order of the emperor, and the emperor was a god. I had no choice. If I had disobeyed I would have been killed.”
The question I always come back to when reading matters like these, is, at what point would I say ‘no’, standing firmly on principle, and/or what would I be willing to compromise to protect myself or loved ones. I think we all have an estimation of ourselves but until one is in the position of decision… That’s why Ms. Spitz impresses me so much. She seems the type that, if in the right (rather, wrong) time and place and experienced what she now only speaks about, she would fight for right and stand against evil, whether it meant her life or not.
Dana (aedf1d) — 6/13/2009 @ 8:25 pmI know what you mean, Dana. Making a deal with Shirō Ishii remains unfathomable to me. Had I been MacArthur, I would have assured him of his safety, obtained the data, and executed him.
But I suppose that would have made me a little like them.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 8:31 pmOne more thing, Dana. You are right that bravery is cheaply discussed. Who knows what any of us would do, faced with such choices?
If I knew you better (or had your e-mail) I would share with you an amazing story about my wife, who remains the bravest and most honorable person I know. No, it’s not about “defending against Nazi” level bravery—but she is darned brave and honorable, in a profession (academia) where few of us are.
So I know some people who have stepped up. I have never had to be tested. I hope I could be as brave, and honorable.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/13/2009 @ 8:34 pmEric Blair – But I suppose that would have made me a little like them.
I disagree. There never should have been a ‘deal’ at all. Japan had surrendered unconditionally, and what data they may have possessed would have been US property. The deal was made to conceal the fact that we were studying such obscene information.
Even after the horrors of WWII, the insidious nature of what was done to people was something to which no one wanted to have any connection, regardless of what possible ‘value’ the information may have contained.
Apogee (e2dc9b) — 6/13/2009 @ 10:40 pmDRJ- I echo Eric’s comments in #13. This is a super blog, and I really enjoy reading it. And thanks to all you thoughtful commenters who make it interesting for “mostly lurkers” like me.
cheers, chuck
dhmosquito (99b55a) — 6/14/2009 @ 5:33 amApogee, I appreciate your posts. Please don’t let TLEs drive you away.
I may have made myself unclear in my post. I agree there never should have been a deal. Had I been MacArthur, I would have said anything at all to that awful person, gotten the data, and then executed him myself. Knowing me, I would have burned the data.
My point is that I suppose that act of executing Ishii myself would make me a little bit like them. But it bothers me when mass murderers walk free. That is what the War Crimes Trials were for….and Shirō Ishii should have been tried.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/14/2009 @ 10:06 amI had a friend who was a medical officer in Korea in the Korean War. They had terrible problems with a Rickettsial disease called “hemorrhagic fever.” Eventually, they worked out its transmission and the early tetracycline antibiotics were used to treat it but many lives were lost. Later, they learned that the Japanese had had similar problems and the Unit 731 had worked out the transmission route with human experiments that were war crimes. Had that information been available to the US medical corps, it might have saved thousands of US service members. It was not made available because it was the result of war crimes.
I’m not sure about the biological warfare part of the story. No doubt, poon believes it.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/14/2009 @ 11:46 ampoon,
It’s clear that your last comment draws a comparison between a physician who comments here and the Nazi doctors charged with WWII atrocities.
I’m not sure poon knows what it is alleging or suggesting. I think it might fail an IQ test.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/14/2009 @ 11:47 amActually, Dr. K., I would appreciate one of your Amazon reviews of one of the Unit 731 books. It’s a horrific story, and for some reason, it isn’t much discussed.
Eric Blair (5a226d) — 6/14/2009 @ 11:55 amI’m working on Carlo D’Este’s biography of Churchill, then Amir Taheri’s book on Iran. Maybe later.
Mike K (2cf494) — 6/14/2009 @ 12:19 pmI “recommned” Tadeusz Borowski’s “This Way For The Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen”. It is a collection of short stories by an Auschwitz survivor. (“Recommend” does not really sound appropriate, it’s horrific, but I can’t think of another word.)
nk (c67cf5) — 6/14/2009 @ 12:35 pmI just saw that our “enhanced interrogation techniques” were developed by a pair of psychologists. According to the story their purpose was “learned helplessness”. I only have a B.A. in Psychology but I am pretty confident in saying that “learned helplessness” is no different than residing in Dante’s Inferno. I never did it, not even to rats.
I dunno how much of “doctors” these psychologists are but I see serious ethical issues in them developing “enhanced interrogation techniques”.
nk (093b41) — 6/15/2009 @ 3:49 pm