Blitzed

Drugs in Nazi Germany

By Norman Ohler

ISBN: 978-0-141-98316-5

First published 2015

281 pages

Publisher: Penguin RandomHouse UK

5/5 Stars

A rather remarkable book, translated from the German by Shaun Whiteside.  This book focuses on the pharmacological underpinnings of the Third Reich.

With the ascent of the Nazi Party to power in 1933, recreational drugs were banned. Berlin was no longer the scene of debauchery that it had been in the 1920’s. The irony here was that recreational drugs were replaced with something far more pernicious, Pervitin.

Pervitin was a form of meta-amphetamine. The German Army, the Navy the Luftwaffe, all took it, and distributed millions of pills. The blitzkrieg was enabled by German soldiers who no longer needed any sleep. 72 hours staying awake was enough to cross France. The noticeable decline in mental functions was easily compensated for by the ability to stay awake for long periods.

The book also details Hitler’s drug use, how he was able to continue the war only after huge intakes of drugs, and how this hug intake meant he could deal with the incredible stress of the eastern front.