"Blitzed" by Norman Ohler "astonishing account" of methamphetamine addiction in the Third Reich

according to the Guardian newspaper a new translation of German writer Norman Ohler’s "astonishing account" of methamphetamine addiction in the Third Reich "Der totale Rausch: Drogen im Dritten Reich" changes what we know about WWII..

" The invasion of France was made possible by the drugs. Rommel and all those tank commanders were high.."

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/sep/25/blitzed-norman-ohler-adolf-hitler-nazi-drug-abuse-interview

 

..not to mention alcohol..you're right, long-range P-51 pilots on 8-hour missions to Japan were also given Pervitin..but I don't know it is as widely distributed..again according to Ohler ".. Als Deutschland 1940 Frankreich überfiel, standen die Soldaten der Wehrmacht unter 35 Millionen Dosierungen Pervitin..."

 

RAF aircrew survival kits contained two packets of benzedrine tablets, clearly labelled as such. Crew bailing out at sea were to use them to stay awake so they could spot an ASR plane and fire a flare...but evaders on land used them to stay awake as long as possible to put as much distance as possible between themselves and where they came down.

 

I'm halfway through reading 'Blitzed'. I must say that I was prepared to be cynical, but so far, it's been a gripping read.

Obviously, I was first put off in a rather snobbish way as Ohler is a novelist. But give the guy his due - when he latched onto the subject, he enlisted the help of some serious researchers and they've really got into the German archives. The book cites all sources in footnotes. I'd always known about British use of Benzedrine ( rather offhandedly called 'wakey-wakey pills' by Bomber Command crews ).

Pervitin has been mentioned before on these Forums but I'd never known before that it was, in fact - crystal meth by another name. Effective in many ways, nasty in others. Ohler does go too far in his claims, but he's the first writer outside academia to give widespread coverage to its history and (ab)usage in german society and the Wehrmacht. The book is full of fascinating information and I'll just repeat one -

Before the Blitzkrieg in the West, the Wehrmacht ordered 35 million tabs or Pervitin.

It's certainly giving me pause to think about some 'superhuman' exploits ( like the Waffen-SS troops attempting to storm US machineguns at Stavelot ) and unexplained oddities ( like Peiper's 'heart attack' and near-disappearance immediately after the Ardennes offensive, for instance ).

Don't take all of the book at face value, but do go ahead and read it......