Vivien Spitz (1924 – April 1, 2014), born Vivien Ruth Putty, was an American

court reporter A court reporter, court stenographer, or shorthand reporter is a person whose occupation is to capture the live testimony in proceedings using a stenographic machine, thereby transforming the proceedings into an official certified transcript b ...

at the

Nuremberg trials The Nuremberg trials were held by the Allies of World War II, Allies against representatives of the defeated Nazi Germany, for plotting and carrying out invasions of other countries, and other crimes, in World War II. Between 1939 and 1945 ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. From 1972 to 1982, she was Chief Reporter of Debates in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

Early life

Vivien Ruth Putty was born in Montana and raised in

Woodstock, Illinois Woodstock is a city in (and the county seat of) McHenry County, Illinois, McHenry County, Illinois, United States. It is located 45 miles northwest of Chicago, making it one of the city's outer-most suburbs. Per the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...

. She supported herself, her widowed mother Kathryn Putty and two younger siblings as a switchboard operator in her teens, before World War II, and learned to take dictation to improve her job prospects. During the war, she graduated from Gregg College in Chicago, where she trained as a court reporter.

Career

Putty worked as a court reporter in Detroit after completing her training in Chicago. From 1946 to 1948, she was a civilian employee of the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, assigned to the Subsequent Proceedings trial at Nuremberg, to transcribe the testimony of twenty Nazi doctors and their assistants. "I just had the feeling that I never saw such evil faces in my life, and eyes," she recalled. She later experienced recurrent nightmares from the overwhelming images she transcribed. Spitz became a court reporter in Denver, and was the first woman to serve as Official Reporter of Debates in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

. For ten years, from 1972 to 1982, she was Chief Reporter of Debates for the United States House of Representatives. She was a fellow of the Academy of Professional Reporters of the

National Court Reporters Association The National Court Reporters Association, or NCRA, is a US organization for the advancement of the profession of the court reporter, closed captioner, and realtime writer. The association holds annual conventions, seminars and forums, speed and ...

. In retirement Spitz lived in Aurora, Colorado, and in the mid-1980s was outraged by reports of a local school teacher calling the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

a hoax. She joined the

University of Denver The University of Denver (DU) is a private university, private research university in Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1864, it is the oldest independent private university in the Mountain States, Rocky Mountain Region of the United States. It is ...

Holocaust Awareness Institute's Speakers Bureau, and toured as a lecturer, speaking to community groups about the Nuremberg trials. She helped to found the

University of Colorado The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University of Co ...

Holocaust Contemporary Bioethics Program. Spitz published a memoir, ''Doctors from Hell, The Horrific Account of Nazi Experiments on Humans'' (2005). In 2006, Spitz was inducted into the Colorado Women's Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Vivien Putty married Ellis Spitz, a military police officer she met in Nuremberg. They had two sons, John and Peter. Spitz died in Texas in 2014, aged 89 years. In 2017 she appeared in older footage in the documentary ''Caring Corrupted: The Killing Nurses of the Third Reich''. There is a collection of items donated by Spitz, including transcripts and photographs, in the

United States Holocaust Memorial Museum The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum (USHMM) is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust hi ...

Archives.

References

External links

Vivien Spitz speaking about the Nuremberg trials in 2009
on YouTube.
Vivien Spitz interviewed by the National Court Reporters Association
on YouTube. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Spitz, Vivien 1924 births 2014 deaths Court reporters United States Army women civilians People from Woodstock, Illinois American expatriates in Germany 21st-century American women