Her personal memories of the doctors’ trials are documented along with exacting official testimonies in her book, Doctor’s from Hell: The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans, [Sentient Publications], 2005, which has sold approximately 12,000 copies to date.
A review in the New England Journal of Medicine lauds the book, saying, “No academic summary … transmits the horror of their [the Nazi doctors] actions so powerfully as this book does.”
Returning to the U.S.
Vivien returned to the United States in 1948. Married while in Germany, the couple had two sons, and when the marriage fell apart, the single mother of two boys found herself back in the job market.
She moved to Denver, Colo., returned to her career as a court reporter, and put her 260-words-a-minute shorthand skills to work for the Denver court system for 19 years.
Vivien joined the National Court Reporters Association of 30,000 members, and it was there that the Senate reporters took note of her.
After declining their first offer in 1967, a year later she agreed to join the congressional staff, and in 1972 she received a fulltime appointment in the House of Representatives.
She held the position until her “first” retirement in 1982.
A Second Calling
In 1987, Vivien was stunned into action, and out of retirement, by a newspaper report. The story reported that a high-school teacher was denying the tragedy of the Holocaust, even terming the event the “holohoax.”
Inspired, she put together a lecture about the horrors of the Nazi doctors, complete with photographs and testimony from her reports. Since 1987, she has made presentations to more than 48,000 individuals in 40 states, Canada, and Singapore. Her message is about basic human rights and the dignity of life, and the difference between good and evil.
In 1995, Steven Spielberg’s SHOAH Foundation videotaped an interview with Vivien which is now in the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Her efforts have earned accolades the world over, and humanitarian awards from organizations across the country. But her proudest moment was when the National Court Reporters Association named her the recipient of its inaugural Humanitarian Award: the first-ever in its 101-year history.
To keep her busy schedule, and spend more time with her sons in Houston, Vivien moved to Eagle’s Trace in 2005. Now she travels on short notice without a worry in the world.
A Most Recent Honor
The Colorado Women’s Hall of Fame honors both contemporary and historical women who have made significant contributions to the state of Colorado and its culture. In March 2006, Viven Spitz was officially inducted.
And What Comes Next?
“After the Colorado ceremony, I flew back from Denver with a cough,” she says. “I went to see Dr. Patel here at Eagle’s Trace. She did an on-the-spot EKG and a half-hour later, I was in an ambulance headed for the hospital. A week later I had surgery,” she continues, “so now I’m choosing my engagements more carefully.”
Though she has had to cancel some impressive speaking engagements, she plans to return to a reduced lecture schedule. And maybe, just maybe, another book is in her future.
“I’m not quite sure yet, but some 20 years ago, before the first Palestinian intifada, I took a Catholic pilgrimage to the Holy Land,” she says. “I took my tape recorder, and I have produced a verbatim transcript of 267 pages of that trip. Religious books are good sellers. My publisher has asked me to send her a chapter.”
And the reporting continues.