Drugs were officially banned in the Third Reich. However, at the very beginning of the blitzkrieg, the Wehrmacht soldiers fought high. The Fuhrer himself was a drug addict. Pravda. Ru learned about this from an interview with the writer Norman Ohler, author of the best-selling book Total Drunkenness and a blogger on the Reddit forum.
While the video on the Internet portal Reddit continues to gain popularity, which shows how, sitting on the podium of the stadium, Adolf Hitler swayed, as if under the influence of drugs, a discussion began on this site about how the Nazi elite of the Third Reich was connected with drugs.
Under the post, which is called "Hitler with symptoms of amphetamine use", some users expressed doubt that during the XI Summer Olympics in 1936, the Fuhrer was already a drug addict. However, pervitin (methamphetamine) became widespread only in 1938. Observant users proceeded from the fact that Hitler captured in the video was sitting on the podium of some sports facility and based on what they saw, they came to the conclusion: most likely, the footage was taken in Berlin from August 1 to August 16, 1936.
Without questioning whether the latter conclusion, that the Fuehrer could not attend other sports besides the Summer Olympics, is true, Reddit interviewed journalist and writer Norman Ohler about the Nazi bonzes' connection to methamphetamines, opioids and a pork cocktail. organs. To maintain good spirits and increase physical stamina, the Wehrmacht soldiers used Pervitin. This drug is now known as Chrystal Meth.
In particular, in 1940, when Germany invaded France, 35 million packages of pervitin were sold, which could be purchased at any pharmacy. It was truly a folk drug that made blitzkrieg possible. Still, one could doubt the desire of the vegetarian Hitler to inject himself a dubious mixture obtained from pork corpses, or to sniff cocaine. Although it is documented that in the winter of 1944, when Hitler launched his last offensive, he did not get around a single day in order not to be high.
Now living in New York, Norman Ohler (born 1970) is the author of the September 2015 bestseller Total Drunkenness. Drugs in the Third Reich "(Der totale Rausch - Drogen im Dritten Reich), described by the famous German historian Hans Mommsen as" the book that completely changed the overall picture "of our understanding of the Nazis. On the web portal, Oler answered questions under the nickname High Hitler. Here are the most interesting questions and answers.
How many times did Hitler use cocaine?
- From July to October 1944, he used cocaine 50 times. There is a report from Dr. Giesing that indicates that in the fall of 1944 Hitler almost overdosed on cocaine.
Promotional video:
Did Hitler smoke weed?
- Hitler never smoked anything. Marijuana was not popular with the Nazis.
Did Hitler's health deteriorate as he abused drugs? Is there evidence of this?
- Yes, it really got worse. The Nazi propaganda machine tried to hide it. But there are documents showing how Hitler degraded and how strong his tremor was (hand tremors).
What is the craziest thing you dug up during your search?
- This is written about in the chapter Schlachthaus Ukraine (“Slaughterhouse Ukraine”). There we are talking about Morel (Theo Morell, Hitler's physician), who collected all the organs of all slaughtered animals, cooked a crazy decoction out of all this and tested this broth on Hitler. Morel was a pioneer (in the sense of a discoverer - Ed.) - at least that's what Hitler called him. He was just as eager to experiment with "patient A" as Morel called Hitler.
At that time Pervitin (Meth) was very popular. How was it taken?
- In the form of pills.
Do you believe that the outcome of the war could have been different if no one took drugs?
- Yes, I believe. The abuse of pervitin in the Wehrmacht was so strong that it was consistent with the military strategy of the blitzkrieg. It is hard to imagine how an attack on France could do without drugs. Meth gave the Nazis an edge in lightning war.
How did drugs get to the front?
- They were given out by the medical staff. In April 1940, they received the so-called Stimulations-Dekret, which determined how much they were to distribute.
Did civilians in Germany know about drugs?
“They didn't know anything about Hitler's drug abuse. He was perceived as a "healthy saint." Did the civilians know about Crystal Meth? Yes, as many have received it. It was legal, only it was called Pervitin.
Was the negative effect of pervitin known?
- Pervitin's Temmler contested the harm and touted its "good effect." It wasn't until later that people realized that Meth is a drug that leads to addiction. Since May 1942, pervitin was outlawed in Germany.
How did you fight addiction? Was there a crisis after the war, when Pervitin suddenly disappeared?
- The army tried to create programs for dependent soldiers. But they failed because they lacked (financial) resources. After the war, many soldiers were still addicted. Many studies show that the use of pervitin in Germany until the 50s was quite significant.
Today, the military uses Modafinil, a remedy for insomnia. Are you good at this?
- I first heard about modafinil when I was collecting material for "Total Drunkenness". It was used in Afghanistan by the Bundeswehr special forces, and I believe that it is also used in the American armed forces. It's like amphetamines, only without High. Very "effective" I guess.