Doctors from Hell by Vivien Spitz - Essay Example

History and Political Science March 19, Topic: Doctors from Hell by Vivien Spitz IntroductionThe story of Nuremberg trials and the revelations by the galaxy of Nazi doctors, defies all moral codes of humanity. The pages of human history are soaked in bloodshed related to various types of atrocities and heinous acts by man against the man, but the Nazi atrocities are without a parallel. Perhaps the entire state apparatus of all the categories, takes part in the operation of annihilation of Jews and some other communities, the leading part being that of politicians and the medical practitioners. Not a whimper of protest is raised by the doctors against the orders by Adolph Hitler. Why do the doctors fail to abide by the noble ethics of their medical profession and succumb to the dictates of the Nazi regime to commit atrocities of the worst order on innocent human beings? The main issue is, why the entire German medical fraternity turns demonic, and what makes them to wean away from their traditional vocation of serving the sick? Vivien Spitz defends her position to the military authority, which is skeptical about her ability to carry out the onerous and dangerous responsibility as the court reporter at Nuremberg trials thus: “I have to go to see for myself. I’m a court reporter, and the War Department needs court reporters. I want to take these doctors’ testimony watch their face. I want to hear how they defend these terrible atrocities and experiments on human beings.”(8) The book, “Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans,” is born, through her blazing pen and the steely determination. Two types of wars are waged in Germany after Hitler comes to power in 1933. The normal war when soldiers of the opposite camps kill each other, and another war, that is devoid of conscience to exterminate a particular race from the face of earth. They include children, women, able-bodied and the mentally and physically sick. German soldiers begin to kill all those from a particular community with whom they have no previous personal enmity. Spitz writes, “After Hitler came to power in 1933, a Superior Genetic Health Court was established. Thus began the perverse degradation of German medicine and the demonic human experimentation and murder of thousands of innocent people by willing German doctors.”(2)Are they up to a medical cause or a political adventure? What are their ulterior motives and the hidden agenda? The important question is how the medical fraternity takes the lead and commits heinous atrocities against the defenseless human being lying flat in front of them which even the fighting forces would not have done in the normal conditions? To kill a man by firing bullets from a weapon is understandable. But to use a doctor’s knife, cut one by part by part, torture and lead one to slow death of agony is barbaric. In this essay an attempt has been made to discuss the issues related to medical trials, to determine the role of medical practitioners in the extermination system and the perverse acts committed by them in the cause of so-called medical research. How and why the German medical practitioners go insane. Are the acts committed due to political pressure or for the sadistic pleasure, also known as medical research for the benefits of the generations to come? How does it progress unabated with no authority to restrain the atrocities committed by highly professional doctors? How the best friend of the sick people turns out to be the worst enemy, whose very presence sends shivers for the man in front of him? Spitz gives the historical evidence as for the behaviour of the doctors. She argues, “Science and ideology are treacherous partners. When an ounce of science is mixed with a ton of zealotry, catastrophic results can be anticipated.”(xvi) The well-trained physicians turn overenthusiastic as the result of the relentless Nazi propaganda that they are expected to perform a great national duty to the superior German race and for its emancipation from the impure races. They begin to experiment with the various possibilities of death and their impact on the patients. It is to be noted that their motive is to further the cause of scientific research but the atrocities committed in the name of science are mind-boggling. Human beings are placed in low-pressure chambers to simulate high altitudes; they are kept in vats of chilled water to make a note how long it will take them to die. If they survive that ordeal they are killed to make further experimentation of autopsy on their bodies. Diseases are generated in their bodies like typhus, malaria and hepatitis; exposure to poisonous gases is another vicious experiment the victims are made to undergo. Gangrene creating injections are given. Wood and glass are inserted in the artificially created incisions. Bone sections and the entire limbs are removed from the healthy inmates for transplantation to other victims with the results the patients go through the painful and torturous stages. Spitz writes, “...from the end of 1942 and into 1943 defendant Getbhardt supervised both the sulfanilamide experiments and bone, muscle and nerve experiments.”(116) She also highlights the incendiary bomb experiments thus: “Burns were inflicted on subjects with phosphorous taken from the bombs, causing severe pain, suffering, and serious body injury.”(45) The question is why this extreme form of medical corruption happens? Spitz argues, “There have been many theories about how and why this happened in a country considered to be among the most cultured and civilized of its day.”(xvi) Why nightmarish incidents happen and all values and meaning of brotherhood are swept aside by the evil forces that engulf the society? To put it in one sentence, it is the outcome of Nazi ideology to which the medical profession is exposed day in and day out, finally to bring the ultimate shame on the medical profession. In the ultimate analysis, their protective armour for defending their positions turns out to be patriotism. No resistance to the orders: As stated in paragraph 1 above, there has been no semblance of resistance to the orders of the Reich and his top advisers, but some people do come to the rescue of those in peril. Those are individual initiatives, without any organised support. Spitz writes about one such incident, “Among the many heroic rescuers during the Nazi era were the Christians who put their own lives at risk by hiding the Jewish children turned over to them by the children’s parents, who were then gathered to the concentration and death camps.”(293) But these initiatives are like blocking the advancement of an avalanche with a bundle of straw. The propaganda machinery of the Nazis creates such hysteria of hatred wherein all reasoning is lost and the doctors once into it are more enthusiastic to carry out the tasks allotted to them. They are made to feel that they are on a sacred mission assigned to them by Reich, and the feeling is infused into their minds that that they are on a great responsibility to fulfill the security needs of their motherland. Adolph Hitler is “born” in USA What is the reason for deviance on such an intensive scale by the German Doctors to the Hippocratic Oath they take at the time of being designated as doctors? This oath turns out to the hypocritical oath in the regime of the Reich. An important and sensitive branch like medicine, when it gets the license to do what it pleases, tragic consequences follow. It serves the political interests and overall strategy to treat a group as other and gradually extend its scope to secure complete authority. After identifying such a group, withdraw all facilities to them, to which a normal citizen of the country is entitled to; next, withdraw protection of the legal provisions. Hitler and his advisers do the same to Jews, Gypsies and homosexuals and the dangerous concept of pure and impure races is adopted and vigorously pursued. The theory of eugenics is the further expansion of the concept of purification process. This racial purity doctrine has repercussions that are too horrid to imagine. With the encouragement to this theory, the question of identification of the undesirable elements in the society came to the fore. Implementation of the eugenics theory is a tough call on the harmonious relations amongst the various segments of the society, and the divisive forces have the upper hand. The predicament of the German administration is the same as that of USA a few centuries ago. The white American thinkers and politicians have a tough time and rather an impossible task of reconciling with the institution of slavery to the theological aspect which they practice. They have cross on the neck but no Christ in the heart. As per divine dispensation, God has created the entire humankind as equal, and no special marks are awarded to the white race. Yet the black person is considered as the one belongs to the inferior race. He is mentally deficient. This gives rise to the theory of degeneracracy and the blacks are not entitled to normal treatment to which a human being is entitled to. In a legal case, a US lawyer in his note of dissent articulated the dangers that await the society, if the compulsory sterilizsation law is upheld, and he warned, “A reign of doctors will be inaugurated and in the name of science new classes will be added, even races may be brought within the scope of such a regulation and the worst forms of tyranny may be practices.”(xviii) He proves prophetic as for the goings on in the Nazi Germany. The medical practitioners, once their position is strengthened by the law of the land, torture practices turn out to be the part of their professional duties. The ruthless Nazi regime fully supports their efforts of research on humans for advancement of medical knowledge. Doctors legally commit murders, after adopting certain procedures. The ruling ideology encourages the doctors to eliminate the identified races on one pretext or the other. Conclusion: Vivian Spitz completes her mission successfully, and brings out to the knowledge of the readers of her book the startling facts that strengthen the arms of medical fraternity to eliminate Jews and other races in Nazi Germany. How the harsh measures of torture result in death and if one survives, one goes mad. In short period Doctors lose all their sense of duty and justice and turnout to be hardcore Nazis, to pursue actively the perverted objectives. This indicates the lethal impact of the propaganda on the noble profession of Doctors and what distorted form of patriotism can do to damage the delicate fabric of society that holds the various communities together. One section of the sociologists and politicians articulate that episodes from the history that generate animosity and ill will between communities shall not be taught to the people in general and students in colleges and universities. This is untenable. Every citizen has a right to know the past history through which the humankind has suffered. The pertinent point is not to repeat such grave mistakes. The most condemnable part of the Nazi atrocities is that medical fraternity treated it as the god-sent opportunity for the advancement of medical research, instead of helping those wounded in the battlefields. The lesson one learns from the gravest chapter of human history is, the ultimate calamity for the people is in store when the judiciary, administration, politicians and service industry like the medical profession join together for a heinous cause. Works Cited Spitz, Vivien. Doctors from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans. Sentient Publications, April 1, 2005.English, Print. . Read More