Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans

by Vivien Spitz

Book Overview

A chilling story of human depravity and ultimate justice, told for the first time by an eyewitness court reporter for the Nuremberg war crimes trial of Nazi doctors. This is the account of 23 men torturing and killing by experiment in the name of scientific research and patriotism. Doctors from Hell includes trial transcripts that have not been easily available to the general public and previously unpublished photographs used as evidence in the trial...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1591810329
• ISBN13: 9781591810322
• Release Date: April 2005
• Publisher: Sentient Publications
• Length: 356 Pages
• Weight: 0.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.3" x 6.3" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

Medical Demons

Way back in 1980, I had the opportunity to know a Polish American girl in Toledo,Ohio. She and her family are originally from Krakow, Poland. Her mother showed me the horrible scars on her deformed left leg and some presumably whip marks on her back. She told me she was interned in 1944 at the notorious concentration camp in Ravensbruck,Germany which was a concentration camp for women. The horrendous deformity and scars on her left leg were the result of experiments consisting of injecting germs to develop infection down to the bone and testing it with different drugs. She was lucky she survived in spite of her weighing only 50 lbs at that time. The book "Doctors from Hell" is just appropriate for its title and content. Reading the book brings back memory of that mother and all the horrendous detail of not only her own experience but also those of her fellow inmates in that concentration camp. The book's authenticity is just summed up by that mother's narration to me, a human being who was actually in and escaped from that "Hell" on earth. I highly recommend it.

Unbelievable!

This book is a real shocker, to think that people can have no empathy for another human beings feelings is beyond belief. "How could they do this" in no way begins to describe the horror and torture they inflicted on these poor defenceless souls. A real eye-opener but a "must" read book. Very well written.

Hard to read but vital

Vivien Spitz is half German by heritage but, she strongly indicts her countrymen in this chilling account of horrific "medical experiments" that Nazi doctors and medical assistants performed on innocent people. The descriptions of what was done is creepy but the story must be told. Ms. Spitz was the youngest court reporter during the Nuremberg trials as she transcribed the testimony in the trals of medical personnel. She documents a dozen types of experiments and, some truly had no medical value but were done only for the sake of perpetrating inhumanity to non Arians, most of whom were Jews and Gypsies. There were other vicitms as well, such as Russians. Among the defendants, some were sentenced to death, others to prison terms of varying legnths and a total of seven were acquitted. The acquittals were probably due to the court leaning over backwards to make the trials look fair. An example of an experiment that was done with no possible scientific value was to force victims to drink brackish seawater to see the effects. Of course this made the victims sick and drove them mad. Most did not survive. Another awful experiment was to amputate limbs and attempt to transpant them to others. Without modern microsurgery and anti rejection medication, this could never have possibly worked but these ghouls killed and permanently maimed people in the name of science. Even if this experiment could have worked, the real purpose was to do the most horrible acts of brutality on the victims, not to accumulate medical knowledge. Horrible diseases, such as malaria were deliberately introduced to vicitims. Another horrible experiment was to lock victims into vaultlike chambers where the atmospheric conditions of 68,000 feet in altitude could be simulated. Ms. Spitz is truly a wonderful person as she makes sure that holocaust deniers don't get away with their revisionism. She has confronted them and, importantly, she has written this book. The book is difficult to read because of the horrors that are documented. Still, it should be read so that we never forget.

Gruesome and Accurate Account

The first-hand testimony, taken from trial transcripts, paints a gruesome portrait of the doctors involved in horrific experiments on humans in the Nazi death camps. (I reluctantly call these men "doctors" after reading this disturbing book.) Accurate documentation of their unbelievable deeds provides the reader with a nightmare look at this dark time in history. An essential reference for students of history.

A bleak, stark, and severe account

Written by skilled journalist Vivian Spitz, who counts being the youngest court reporter at the Nuremberg Trials among her many accomplishments, Doctors From Hell: The Horrific Account Of Nazi Experiments On Humans presents literal testimonies of Nuremburg war crimes trials specifically pertaining to murderous medical experiments performed on living people. A bleak, stark, and severe account; the dry yet thoroughly detailed testimony speaks for itself. Information concerning the conviction and sentencing of defendants is also included. The author offers closing chapters about adapting to a normal life after her role in bearing witness to unspeakable atrocities, including her encounters with poisonous and sometimes threatening Holocaust deniers. A straightforward primary source appreciable to scholars and lay readers alike, and a welcome contribution to Holocaust Studies and reference shelves.