While the Soviet troops were using the "front-line hundred grams", methamphetamines were used on the other side of the trenches.
Under the influence of drugs, the soldiers could not sleep for days on end, did not feel any fear or pain.
This is a letter from the future Nobel laureate Heinrich Böll to his parents, and it was not something unusual - since 1939, the Wehrmacht soldiers were given pervitin, benzedrine and isophane for vigor, and when they lacked pervitin, they asked their parents to send it to them. It was not difficult for parents - in the Reich itself, pervitin was sold openly, even in the form of chocolates, which were nicknamed "panzerchokolade" - "tank chocolate" because the soldiers willingly bought it.
Medical certificate: Methamphetamine, or pervitin, is an artificial derivative of amphetamine, a white crystalline substance that is odorless and bitter in taste. It is a psychostimulant with an extremely high potential for addiction, and therefore has become widespread as a drug. Street names for pervitin are diverse: speed, chalk, speed (from the English word speed - speed). Taking pervitin causes a surge of strength and self-confidence, dramatically increases efficiency and concentration, relieves, despite the lack of sleep and rest, the feeling of fatigue, as well as pain, hunger and thirst. For the first time amphetamine, the precursor of the described drug, was synthesized in Germany in 1887, and methamphetamine itself, which is easier to use, but also more powerful, was created in 1919 by the Japanese scientist A. Ogata.
The first testers of pervitin were 90 students who, in 1939, under the supervision of military doctor Otto Ranke, took the drug and expressed confidence that the pills help them to be vigorous and energetic, then tankers and drivers received it before the invasion of Poland, well, and after the success of a portion of pervitin pilots began to receive. Allegedly, it was pervitin, benzedrine and isophane that contributed to the success of the blitzkrieg in Europe. In April-July 1940 alone, the Wehrmacht received 35 million tablets from Knoll with instructions to use up to 2 tablets a day for vivacity.
Promotional video:
Between 1939 and 1945, hundreds of thousands of German soldiers were fed more than 200 million pervitin tablets. A large dose was received by the units participating in the capture of Poland, France, Holland and Belgium.
In 1944, a new miracle tablet D-IX for submariners was tested at the Sachsenhausen camp. It contained 5 mg of cocaine, 3 mg of pervitin, and 5 mg of oxycodone (pain reliever). By the way, the test prisoners were not goners at all, but well-fed athletic-looking guys. Thanks to D-IX pills, submarine crews could go without sleep for up to 4 days.
It's funny that after the war, the creators of the miracle pills were taken to the United States, where they created "vigor pills" for the troops in Korea and Vietnam. Naturally based on pervitin. In 1966-1969 alone, the US Army swallowed 225 million dextroamphetamine and pervitin tablets.
It is believed that American soldiers stopped officially "hanging around" in 1973, in reality - who knows?
