burritapal_1's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
3.0
Spoiler
This book, Doctors from Hell, was written by Vivien Spitz, who was the youngest, at 22, of the court reporters who reported at the Nuremberg trials. In the trials that she reported, They prosecuted the Physicians who tortured Jews and other prisoners of War with medical experiments. She wrote this book from her own reporting and documents from the Nuremberg trials. I recorded some excerpts from this book here.
In the chapter titled The Subsequent Proceedings, she explained a bit about how the reporting worked, as there were many different languages spoken:
"the procedure that had been worked out on the IBM system for reporting the major Nazi leaders' trial would be followed for the subsequent trials...
because of the many differing languages spoken by the people involved, everyone in the courtroom - the judges, attorneys, defendants, court reporters, press reporters, interpreters, monitors, translators, staff, and audience - had to wear earphones that enabled them to understand what was being said.
The defendants and their Council had their dials turned to German. In the reporters' case, we turned the dial on the desk to English. The result was, except when an American judge or an English-speaking witness or attorney spoke, we were reporting the words of the interpreters.... "
I took umbrage at this, in the Chapter "Case No.1, the Medical Case":
" during General Taylor's summary of the charges against the doctors and assistants involving freezing, drowning, burning, and poisoning, in sheer irony he cited the law passed by the Nazis on December 24th, 1933, to protect animals. This law was designed explicitly to:
"... prevent cruelty and indifference of man towards animals and to awaken and develop sympathy and understanding for Animals as one of the highest moral values of a people. The soul of the German people should abhor the principle of mere utility without consideration of the moral aspects."
it goes on to cite other specifications. What I object to is the implication that human animals are better than animals. Nobody should be experimented on; not human animals nor other animals. Fuck off.
In the chapter title "Freezing Experiments," the method of the experiments is described. you know that these Nazi doctors and their assistants are getting their rocks off by observing this:
"the experimental subjects were cooled in the usual way -clad or unclad - in cold water of temperatures varying between four degrees C and 9°C. the rectal temperature of every experimental subject was recorded thermo-electrically. The reduction of temperature occurred within the usual span of time varying in accordance with the general condition of the body of the experimental subject and the temperature of the water. The experimental subjects were removed from the water when their rectal temperature reached 30°C. At this time the experimental subjects had all lost consciousness. The experimental subjects were then placed between two naked women in a spacious bed. The women were supposed to Nestle as closely as possible to the chilled person. Then all three persons were covered with blankets. A speeding up of rewarming by light candles or by medicines was not attempted."
...
"... exceptions were for experimental subjects who, at body temperatures between 30° C and 32°C, performed the act of sexual intercourse. In these experimental subjects the temperature Roseberry rapidly after sexual intercourse, which could be compared with the Speedy rise in temperature in a hot bath."
In the chapter titled mustard gas experiments,...
" . . The prisoners were stripped completely naked. They came into the laboratory one after the other. Then I had to hold their arms and a drop of this fluid was rubbed on their arm 10 cm above their forearm.
Then the people who had been treated accordingly had to stand waiting with their arms spread out. After about 10 hours, maybe it was a bit longer, burn injuries began to cover their whole body. Their bodies were burnt in all of those places where fumes from this gas reached. Some of the people also went blind. The pain was so tremendous that one could hardly stand being near the victims.
Then they were photographed each day; all of the injured parts of their bodies: i.e. each of their burnt areas. About on the 5th or 6th day we had our first death. At that time the dead were sent to Strasbourg, because there was no crematorium in the camp.
The dead man was sent back and was 'dissected' in the Ahnenerbe [SS Research Foundation]. His intestines, lungs and so forth were completely eaten away. Then, during the following several days seven more people died. This treatment lasted about 2 months until they were more or less transportable; then these people were sent to a different camp.
On the following day, that is, on the seventh day of the experiment, another seven of the experimental subjects died."
In the chapter titled "Sterilization," there were different methods described of sterilization. One was with putting drops into the entrance of the uterus, and others were to use x-rays concentrated on the genital area:
"on June 7th, 1943, on the basis of his experiments, Dr Clauberg reported that it would be possible to sterilize from several hundred to a thousand per day, stating further that sterilization could be 'performed by a single injection made from the entrance of the uterus in the course of the usual customary gynecological examination.'
Defendant Rudolph Brandt in his affidavit stated, 'Dr Clauberg developed further a method for the sterilization of women. This method was based upon the injection of an irritating solution into the uterus. Dr Clauberg conducted widespread experiments on Jewish women and Gypsies in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Several thousand women were sterilized by Clauberg in Auschwitz.' "
In the chapter titled "Typhus Experiments," it was reported on an Air Force officer who conducted typhus experiments at NatzWeiler.
"Early on, inmates were infected with the virus through both superficial and deep Cuts in the upper arm. Others were infected by intravenous injections of fresh blood containing the typhus virus. A typhus vaccine from chicken egg yolks was tested. Already available and known to be effective was the Weigl vaccine produced from the intestines of lice. However it was expensive and complicated to manufacture. A cheaper alternative was needed.
Beginning on January 6th, 1942, several vaccines were tested in several large-scale experiments at Buchenwald. Many subjects died. Usually, about 40 to 60 subjects were used in a given test. In one experiment, conducted between 24 April and 1 June 1943, 39 inmates were infected with typhus; 21 died.
In the beginning, subjects were infected artificially by lacerating the skin and introducing a typhus culture from contagious lice. This changed in 1943 when subjects were infected with fresh blood containing the typhus virus intravenously or intramuscularly. Of 25 subjects used, 19 died."
In the chapter titled "Judgments and Sentences," the defendants were given a chance to speak in their defense. None of them had any remorse, and in fact, added that they were proud to have done their Duty as soldiers for the Fatherland. One of them struck me though, his name was Adolf Pokorny, and this is what he had to say:
"with this hope I am looking forward to your judgment, and in that connection I am thinking of my children who, for years now, have lived under the protection of an Allied power, and who will not believe that their father, after everything that he has suffered, could possibly have acted as an enemy to Human rights."
Quoted from Vivian Spitz:
"the medical case of the Nazi doctors is the story of the mass violation of basic human rights and the Dignity of life, of indifference to evil, people who knew and kept silent, and of heads of state who looked the other way. Too many church leaders did not speak out against what was happening because of fear for their personal safety or security. Many of the courageous clergy who did speak out were rounded up and sent to concentration camp Dachau, Northwest of Munich. This was the collection site for over 2,770 Catholic priests and members of religious orders; and Protestant, Orthodox, and Muslim clergyman. 868 Polish priests died, 300 in medical experiments or by torture.
Although cultural animosity towards Jews was common, Western European Bishops who harbored no ill will towards Jews tried to rescue them. 'many Bishops believed that in the face of Nazi ruthlessness, Catholics could accomplish more by Sheltering a few Jews than by a public protest against their Mass slaughter... a number of Bishops would very likely have spoken out if Pope Pius himself had done so or had encouraged them to do so.' "
This strikes me; especially now, while Palestinians are being genocided by Israelites. This is most ironic, isn't it?
This next quoted part made me feel ill:
"... the devastating brutality I describe is not gratuitous and is not fictionalized. How vicious can we, the human species, possibly be in our hearts?
When we are born in the united states, we are born with blessings we just take for granted. We will not be arrested, bludgeoned, tortured, and exterminated solely because of our race, religion, or political activity. Born into freedom, with Free Will in the human story, we innately know the difference between right and wrong. We must each wage a personal war against obedience to unethical, immoral, and illegal evil authority. We owe our responsibility and accountability to humankind."
and yet Vivien Spitz was around when Israel was hacked out of the Palestinian land. When they began immediately to genocide the Palestinian people, she was around then, too. She died in 2005, before this-Where they are going non-stop towards genociding and erasing the Palestinian people.
This makes me sick.
philodora's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
3.75
Some of the author’s remembrances outside of the trial information are a little more repetitive than I remember when reading this in print a few years ago. So repetitive it almost makes it sound like the audio was skipping back to a previous sentence and reading again for some reason.
lmhicks04's review
5.0
Very well written, but I had to keep putting it down because I simply couldn't stomach the content. It is simply unimaginable the horrors that humans put other humans through. A must read.
xxstefaniereadsxx's review
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
5.0
This book was written from an eyewitness to the Nuremberg Trials, who was working as a court reporter during the trials of twenty three men who stood accused of committing torture and murder upon patients who did not consent to medical research. Each chapter relates to a specific method of experimentation. I liked that format, because it was much better that going back and forth several times in an attempt to cover each crime committed. The descriptions of what these people went through is mind blowing and revolting. Human testing has been a thing since medicine began, but this was in the absolute extreme. A lot of the time, it felt like reading the script to a movie like Hostel...this was just a place for those in a position of power to get their kicks by torturing people during a time when it was acceptable to do so to a specific population without fear of repercussions. If they happened to learn something, super. Human nature is terrifying. I also enjoyed the transcripts and trial photos being featured in this book.