Collection
Publication
Mariner Books (2018), Edition: Reprint, 304 pages
Description
"The Nazi regime preached an ideology of physical, mental, and moral purity. But as Norman Ohler reveals in this gripping new history, the Third Reich was saturated with drugs. On the eve of World War II, Germany was a pharmaceutical powerhouse, and companies such as Merck and Bayer cooked up cocaine, opiates, and, most of all, methamphetamines, to be consumed by everyone from factory workers to housewives to millions of German soldiers. In fact, troops regularly took rations of a form of crystal meth--the elevated energy and feelings of invincibility associated with the high even help to explain certain German military victories. Drugs seeped all the way up to the Nazi high command and, especially, to Hitler himself. Over the course of the war, Hitler became increasingly dependent on injections of a cocktail of drugs--including a form of heroin--administered by his personal doctor. While drugs alone cannot explain the Nazis' toxic racial theories or the events of World War II, Ohler's investigation makes an overwhelming case that, if drugs are not taken into account, our understanding of the Third Reich is fundamentally incomplete"--Provided by publisher.… (more)
Media reviews
Ohler’s skill as a novelist makes his book far more readable than these scholarly investigations, but it’s at the expense of truth and accuracy, and that’s too high a price to pay in such a historically sensitive area.
User reviews
LibraryThing member JeffV
We all know about how revolutionary and effective the blitzkrieg was early in WWII. What I didn't realize was the widespread drugs that made the blitz possible. For the most part, German soldiers and tank crews were tweaked on crystal meth; allowing them to operate for days at a time without sleep.
This book chronicles the millions of doses of crystal meth and other narcotics doles out by Reich physicians, but also the Fuhrer's descent in to addiction at the hands of his person physician, Dr. Morrell. As Hitler became more and more dependent, the more erratic he became, and the gradual fall ensued. It's really surprising how much success and failure can be tied to systematic drug abuse, more so because ideologically the party was very much against such thing. Hitler was a self-styled teetotaler and felt strongly that a street sweeper who enjoys his drink needs to look no further to the reason why he is but a street sweeper.
With drug addiction comes reality distortion, and as Hitler succumbed, the rest of the enterprise went down the toilet as well. Ridiculous orders had to be carried out under the threat of execution, and many of those who knew the collective Stuka was auguring into the ground were powerless to help. As troops developed a tolerance to the drugs they were given, their performance started to suffer and they fell victim to their increasingly experienced, sober counterparts.
There are many reasons the Third Reich did not succeed, but this book makes a compelling case that being stoned out of their gourd was probably a leading cause.
Show More
It is almost funny than when Hitler ordered a halt to the advance in France because it was going too quickly, the orders failed to reach general Heinz Guderian because he had already moved on and secured the next objective.This book chronicles the millions of doses of crystal meth and other narcotics doles out by Reich physicians, but also the Fuhrer's descent in to addiction at the hands of his person physician, Dr. Morrell. As Hitler became more and more dependent, the more erratic he became, and the gradual fall ensued. It's really surprising how much success and failure can be tied to systematic drug abuse, more so because ideologically the party was very much against such thing. Hitler was a self-styled teetotaler and felt strongly that a street sweeper who enjoys his drink needs to look no further to the reason why he is but a street sweeper.
With drug addiction comes reality distortion, and as Hitler succumbed, the rest of the enterprise went down the toilet as well. Ridiculous orders had to be carried out under the threat of execution, and many of those who knew the collective Stuka was auguring into the ground were powerless to help. As troops developed a tolerance to the drugs they were given, their performance started to suffer and they fell victim to their increasingly experienced, sober counterparts.
There are many reasons the Third Reich did not succeed, but this book makes a compelling case that being stoned out of their gourd was probably a leading cause.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Shrike58
I will cheerfully admit that I approached this book in something of a salacious mood, as how could one do otherwise with the subject matter? Consisting of about 10% coverage of German narcotic culture, 30% coverage of the use of narcotics as a force multiplier by the German military, and 60%
Here's the thing, as an American there is a certain shock of recognition here with the current American scene with its fun-house mirror coverage of political events, the denial of scientific analysis as a tool to explain reality, of its galloping epidemic of drug abuse, and the withdrawal of many people into various sorts of digital virtual worlds. Heaven help your society if a negative feed-back cycle of addictive behavior takes hold.
Show More
detailed examination of the destructive relationship between Hitler and Theodor Morrell (a society "feel-good" physician), where Ohler provides one with blow-by-blow coverage of the toll Morrell's drugs and quack remedies took of Hitler's health. The ultimate impact one is left with is not that of decadent amusement but a reinforcement of the horror of the experience of the Third Reich; I certainly did not find the accusation that Ohler is simply providing another alibi for the crimes of the Nazi regime to be justified. Ohler is quick to point out that the angle he is covering is only part of the story, but it's a part that has been downplayed in political and military history.Here's the thing, as an American there is a certain shock of recognition here with the current American scene with its fun-house mirror coverage of political events, the denial of scientific analysis as a tool to explain reality, of its galloping epidemic of drug abuse, and the withdrawal of many people into various sorts of digital virtual worlds. Heaven help your society if a negative feed-back cycle of addictive behavior takes hold.
Show Less
LibraryThing member VersionPerson
A quick and enthralling read, bustling with immense details and footnotes. It makes some generalisations here and there, but overall this is fantastic.
LibraryThing member 2wonderY
Ohler makes a new argument that the Nazi war was fueled by cocaine and crystal meth; at headquarters and at the front. He compares party rhetoric promoting clean living with the widespread use of Pervitin, which was considered a caffeine substitute in its early marketing. Soldiers asked family to
The other chemical dealt with in detail is Eukodal, or oxycodone. A large section is devoted to Hitler's drug treatments administered by Dr. Modell.
Altogether a nasty piece of history, somewhat enlightening. Too bad there is no other confirmation of the story as yet. If true, there should be other evidence of a generation of addicts.
Show More
send supplies of it until the high command realized it would maximize personnel during huge military pushes, with the side benefit of reducing inhibitions (read conscience.)The other chemical dealt with in detail is Eukodal, or oxycodone. A large section is devoted to Hitler's drug treatments administered by Dr. Modell.
Altogether a nasty piece of history, somewhat enlightening. Too bad there is no other confirmation of the story as yet. If true, there should be other evidence of a generation of addicts.
Show Less
LibraryThing member rivkat
Sensationally written, but then again the topic is pretty sensational. Ohler argues that a drug-taking culture, heroin and cocaine specifically, was a big part of Weimar life—Germany was the biggest producer of medical-grade heroin and cocaine by far, and popular culture often referred to taking
The last chunk of the book is taken up with Hitler’s own growing drug addiction, which apparently included a lot of cocaine and oxycodone (under the name Eukodal), together comprising the classic speedball, mixing sedation and stimulation. (From William Burroughs: “[Eukodal] is like a combination of junk and [cocaine]. Trust the Germans to concoct some truly awful shit.”) Near the end, his doctor wanted to try bloodletting, but “because of the fatty, hormone-saturated pig’s liver injections his blood had become as thick as jelly and clotted immediately, so the measure failed.”
Show More
those drugs (“Europe’s a madhouse anyway/No need for genuflecting/The only way to Paradise/is snorting and injecting!”). “Heroin is a fine business,” the directors of Bayer said, while Merck, Boehringer and Kroll controlled 80% of the global cocaine market. The Nazis purported to crack down (they wanted their ideology to be the key drug, Ohler says), putting drug users in concentration camps and associating Jews with toxins and narcotics. But the Nazis also heavily used—and mandated the use by troops of—meth, under the name Pervitin, which Ohler argues was key to the Blitz, allowing troops to fight or drive for hours and to overwhelm French and other opponents who thought them inhumanly uninhibited. Their judgment was impaired and they became addicted, but what mattered that to Hitler, who became as arrogant as if he were likewise high? (Heinrich Böll wrote from the front: “Music is sometimes really a great consolation to me (not forgetting Pervitin, which provides a wonderful service—particularly during air raids at night.) Pervitin wasn’t the only source—back at home, there were even meth-spiked chocolates, with five times the dose of a Pervitin pill. But it didn’t work so well in the war of attrition on the Russian front, where going sleepless for hours no longer brought tactical advantages. Hitler’s personal supplier diverted resources from supplying the troops to keep himself in the animal parts he used to make his nostrums. Elsewhere, the Wehrmacht experimented on concentration camp prisoners to find the right combination of Eukodal, cocaine, Pervitin, and morphine derivatives to make soldiers fight on past all sense and physical resources—“the strongest known substances in the world, thrown together at random” out of laxity and desperation. Victims in the camps knew they had to keep marching or die, and the naval staff doctor reported success: “On this medication, state of mind and will are largely eliminated.” The navy gave the resulting gum to young, barely trained sailors who mostly just died. At Auschwitz, the tests focused on brainwashing and consciousness control, experiments that were later continued in the US.The last chunk of the book is taken up with Hitler’s own growing drug addiction, which apparently included a lot of cocaine and oxycodone (under the name Eukodal), together comprising the classic speedball, mixing sedation and stimulation. (From William Burroughs: “[Eukodal] is like a combination of junk and [cocaine]. Trust the Germans to concoct some truly awful shit.”) Near the end, his doctor wanted to try bloodletting, but “because of the fatty, hormone-saturated pig’s liver injections his blood had become as thick as jelly and clotted immediately, so the measure failed.”
Show Less
LibraryThing member EmreSevinc
What a surprising, fascinating, and pharmacological look at one of the darkest periods in our modern history! Before this book, I didn't know anything about the drug use in Nazi Germany, and didn't have any idea about the role played by various powerful stimulants and painkillers both at various
I'm neither a historian with expertise on II. World War Germany, neither the history of pharmacology, therefore, I can't be certain to a great extent whether the author's interpretation of a part of the archives are impeccable. Nevertheless, I applaud the effort taken because of the fresh perspective it provides. Even though the book's focus seems more tilted towards Hitler's addiction to and abuse of drugs, his relationship with his personal physician that gave all these drugs, and how this extraordinary situation made his already delusional state even worse, resulting in the suffering of millions of innocent people, I still wish the book gave more information about the usage of drugs in the army. There are of course striking example, for example the desperate final attempts of German navy, to use such powerful drugs so carelessly and unscientifically, leading to some soldiers not being able to sleep for four days! But I think there are other parts of the archive to be covered from this perspective in order to enhance our understanding.
If you're interested how human mind is affected by drugs that modify the biological mechanisms taking place in the brain, how mind state altering chemicals can be put to weird and evil uses, what crazy side effects can occur, and how blind political and delusional ambition can take knowledge and use it in an ignorant way to cause a lot of suffering, you'll find many of your questions answered in this book. And even though it's a non-fiction, it'll feel more like a page-turner thriller; another achievement by the author.
Show More
level of the army, and in the last few years of Hitler.I'm neither a historian with expertise on II. World War Germany, neither the history of pharmacology, therefore, I can't be certain to a great extent whether the author's interpretation of a part of the archives are impeccable. Nevertheless, I applaud the effort taken because of the fresh perspective it provides. Even though the book's focus seems more tilted towards Hitler's addiction to and abuse of drugs, his relationship with his personal physician that gave all these drugs, and how this extraordinary situation made his already delusional state even worse, resulting in the suffering of millions of innocent people, I still wish the book gave more information about the usage of drugs in the army. There are of course striking example, for example the desperate final attempts of German navy, to use such powerful drugs so carelessly and unscientifically, leading to some soldiers not being able to sleep for four days! But I think there are other parts of the archive to be covered from this perspective in order to enhance our understanding.
If you're interested how human mind is affected by drugs that modify the biological mechanisms taking place in the brain, how mind state altering chemicals can be put to weird and evil uses, what crazy side effects can occur, and how blind political and delusional ambition can take knowledge and use it in an ignorant way to cause a lot of suffering, you'll find many of your questions answered in this book. And even though it's a non-fiction, it'll feel more like a page-turner thriller; another achievement by the author.
Show Less
LibraryThing member terran
This is a fascinating, well-researched account of drug use by Germans, including Hitler, during WWII. In spite of portraying himself as a clean-living healthy specimen of the master race, Hitler was , in reality, dying of his drug addiction by the end of the war. It doesn't excuse the horrendous
Show More
actions he ordered done in any way, nor does the author excuse Hitler from any blame. The author's findings do offer a different picture of the conduct of the war and go a long way to explain some of the inexplicable decisions Hitler made. Show Less
LibraryThing member rdwhitenack
Audiobook. I had no idea drugs were so prevalent in WWII. Definitely explains some of the behaviors. An eye opening book about the power of these drugs. One could arguably make the case that the Axis powers, i.e. Germany, lost the war because of a reliance on these drugs. Hitler was dependent on
Show More
many drugs at the time of his death and the author does an excellent job retelling the story of how it got to that point. The author is careful to explain, and at one point explicitly describes how the drugs were not at fault for his madness, and that he was a murderous sociopath far prior to his dependency. The dependency sped things along. Show Less
LibraryThing member villemezbrown
With a tendency to be sensationalistic and overblown, this doesn't seem to be a particularly rigorous or wholly credible history, but it sure is fun, and I had a "feels right" gut check as I finished. The author uses the evidence of prevalent drug use in Germany not to excuse the Nazis but to
Show More
explain some of the inexplicable early gains and later day bad decisions they made during the war. Hitler and his nation follow the early powerful highs and inflated confidence then the eventual long-term burnout, desperation and decay that is the fate of a drug addict. Show Less
LibraryThing member dwhatson
While Hitler's political ambitions were already well underway, one cannot wonder how much Dr Morell's drug cocktails influenced the outcome of WW2. The alleged widespread use of methamphetamine by Germany's military and the civilian population is truly disturbing. Furthermore, the power that Morrel
Show More
gains during the war, as Hitler's personal physician, combined with the horror stories of methamphetamine use during combat make this book a fascinating read. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sandydog1
Well researched, but it left many questions unanswered. Emphasis was on Hitler's addictions based on review of notes. It got boring after a while. A lesser, and more interesting theme was the fate of the average German soldier/addict. Meth use among the Luftwaffe, tankers and mini submariners and,
Show More
during Blitzkrieg, is mentioned. But what goes up, must come down. Is there any documentation of exactly how German meth heads performed, as told by American or Soviet troops? What about withdrawals among German prisoners? What about notes and interviews of the average cranked up SS soldier or tank commander? With crank being dispensed like candy, that story would have been much more interesting. Overall, an exciting book and William Burroughs was right, "Leave it to the Nazis.." Show Less
LibraryThing member enoch_elijah
A Review of "Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich" By Norman Ohler
Blitzed was a fascinating read. One of my special areas of interest is the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and of the influence wielded by Adolf Hitler. In the many books I’ve read on subject there were always hints of drug
The book can sometimes be slow but not so slow that I was tempted to give up on it. I’m glad I finished it since it gave me a better understanding of how drugs influenced some of the leaders and how they provided a boost to the common soldier.
Anyhow, I recommend this book. Not just because it clarifies so much of our understanding of the Nazi state, but because it demonstrates how some of the challenges we face today in terms of drug addiction began. Be aware though...this is a book on Nazi Germany. As you can imagine, there will be many stories on how the effect of these drugs were tested. Some on German soldiers, some on civilians, but the worst on those who were considered quite expendable: the Jews. It is not easy to read some of these passages. But it is important to remember that this happened in modern times and in a supposedly civilized western European nation.
Read it, you won’t regret it.
Blitzed was a fascinating read. One of my special areas of interest is the rise of the Nazi party in Germany and of the influence wielded by Adolf Hitler. In the many books I’ve read on subject there were always hints of drug
Show More
addictions and Nazi interest in the occult. In this book, Norman Ohler has done a fantastic job of bringing the former to light. With an entire book devoted to the subject, the reader is introduced to the particulars of how some of today’s well known drugs were discovered and used in the early 20th century, and how they came to be tested, used, and abused in Nazi Germany. The book can sometimes be slow but not so slow that I was tempted to give up on it. I’m glad I finished it since it gave me a better understanding of how drugs influenced some of the leaders and how they provided a boost to the common soldier.
Anyhow, I recommend this book. Not just because it clarifies so much of our understanding of the Nazi state, but because it demonstrates how some of the challenges we face today in terms of drug addiction began. Be aware though...this is a book on Nazi Germany. As you can imagine, there will be many stories on how the effect of these drugs were tested. Some on German soldiers, some on civilians, but the worst on those who were considered quite expendable: the Jews. It is not easy to read some of these passages. But it is important to remember that this happened in modern times and in a supposedly civilized western European nation.
Read it, you won’t regret it.
Show Less
LibraryThing member write-review
Opioid Crisis … in Nazi Germany
Norman Ohler puts forth a straightforward thesis: Nazi Germany, top to bottom, military included, suffered a generalized addiction to opioids, particularly methamphetamine, marketed as Pervitin; the chief dopehead was Hitler; the head doper was Theodor Morell,
This doesn’t discount the value of Ohler’s research and presentation, but it does mean readers need to approach it cautiously and not allow themselves to be sweep up in it as a unifying theory. The real value here may be that Ohler, a novelist outsider, gives impetus for historians of all disciplines—medical, military, political, and social—to take a closer look at drug use in pre- and Nazi Germany and perhaps eventually incorporate it into their more expansive and inclusive histories and biographies of the times and the people.
In his text, supported by hundreds of footnotes, Ohler covers the development of the drug industry in Germany preceding the rise of the Nazis and WWII. He shows how methamphetamine captured the imagination of people, got branded as Pervitin, and then smartly packaged and sold to doctors and the general public. Reading Ohler’s colorful recounting, you could easily believe the entire country in the 1930s was guzzling down Pervitin in tablet form and mixed with foods, such as chocolates. If you didn’t know how damaging meth is, you might find the whole affair amusing.
He goes on to show how Pervitin wormed its way into the military as a stimulant for pushing soldiers beyond normal human endurance to create an impression of supermen at war. Ohler’s portrayals of selected military engagements, among them the storming of Poland and the overrunning of France, do give you pause. But no drug works forever, as your body builds tolerances, initiating a vicious and deadly cycle in search of the first ecstatic high. In other words, even if meth may have played a roll in winning some encounters, eventually it became a debilitating addictive failure, as Ohler points out.
Then there is Hitler himself, the man portrayed to Germans as pure of body and the mightier for it; who, with his Nazi cohorts, propagandized for a healthy society and the banishment of drugs, bad eating habits, and nasty “unnatural” sex. Ohler devotes half the book to the Leader and his personal physician, who over time morphed into Hitler’s personal drug supplier, always at his side, always ready with a pill, with an injection of morphine and later on an opioid cousin, Eukodal. That Hitler was in the thrall of medical concoctions to mitigate any number of unsettling maladies, especially of the alimentary canal, is well known. Many also accept he became an addict. Ohler posits complete and debilitating addiction that extended to Hitler’s thought processes and decision-making ability; in short, Hitler behaved irrationally. Though Ohler takes a paragraph to militate against the pages of evidence he has presented, the impression a reader takes away is the opposite, that in fact Hitler became unhinged and borderline insane, particularly in the 1940s, concluding in a complete break from reality and the fanatical about destroying his own country.
So, readers interested in Hitler, in Nazi Germany, in German military performance in WWII, and the destructive effects of rampant drug use, all will find Ohler’s book informative and riveting. However, until historians of all types take up his lead and more closely scrutinize what he has brought forcefully to the forefront, that Germany descended into a suggestible stupefaction to condone murderous ways and stepped into the abyss at the beckoning of a madman, as opposed to rational people behaving knowledgeably in all ways contrary to that rationality, well, this will have to await much further study.
Norman Ohler puts forth a straightforward thesis: Nazi Germany, top to bottom, military included, suffered a generalized addiction to opioids, particularly methamphetamine, marketed as Pervitin; the chief dopehead was Hitler; the head doper was Theodor Morell,
Show More
Hitler’s personal physician. Ohler cites reams of original research dug out of Nazi files (Nazis were big documentarians) to support his proposition. In many ways, he presents a very appealing case, something like, if you will allow, The General Theory of Nazi Inhumanity, or The General Theory of German Blindness, depending on whether you can’t allow yourself to believe rational people capable of committing massive atrocities, or you wish to excuse how a nation could allow millions to be slaughtered in fulfillment of a political ideology. This doesn’t discount the value of Ohler’s research and presentation, but it does mean readers need to approach it cautiously and not allow themselves to be sweep up in it as a unifying theory. The real value here may be that Ohler, a novelist outsider, gives impetus for historians of all disciplines—medical, military, political, and social—to take a closer look at drug use in pre- and Nazi Germany and perhaps eventually incorporate it into their more expansive and inclusive histories and biographies of the times and the people.
In his text, supported by hundreds of footnotes, Ohler covers the development of the drug industry in Germany preceding the rise of the Nazis and WWII. He shows how methamphetamine captured the imagination of people, got branded as Pervitin, and then smartly packaged and sold to doctors and the general public. Reading Ohler’s colorful recounting, you could easily believe the entire country in the 1930s was guzzling down Pervitin in tablet form and mixed with foods, such as chocolates. If you didn’t know how damaging meth is, you might find the whole affair amusing.
He goes on to show how Pervitin wormed its way into the military as a stimulant for pushing soldiers beyond normal human endurance to create an impression of supermen at war. Ohler’s portrayals of selected military engagements, among them the storming of Poland and the overrunning of France, do give you pause. But no drug works forever, as your body builds tolerances, initiating a vicious and deadly cycle in search of the first ecstatic high. In other words, even if meth may have played a roll in winning some encounters, eventually it became a debilitating addictive failure, as Ohler points out.
Then there is Hitler himself, the man portrayed to Germans as pure of body and the mightier for it; who, with his Nazi cohorts, propagandized for a healthy society and the banishment of drugs, bad eating habits, and nasty “unnatural” sex. Ohler devotes half the book to the Leader and his personal physician, who over time morphed into Hitler’s personal drug supplier, always at his side, always ready with a pill, with an injection of morphine and later on an opioid cousin, Eukodal. That Hitler was in the thrall of medical concoctions to mitigate any number of unsettling maladies, especially of the alimentary canal, is well known. Many also accept he became an addict. Ohler posits complete and debilitating addiction that extended to Hitler’s thought processes and decision-making ability; in short, Hitler behaved irrationally. Though Ohler takes a paragraph to militate against the pages of evidence he has presented, the impression a reader takes away is the opposite, that in fact Hitler became unhinged and borderline insane, particularly in the 1940s, concluding in a complete break from reality and the fanatical about destroying his own country.
So, readers interested in Hitler, in Nazi Germany, in German military performance in WWII, and the destructive effects of rampant drug use, all will find Ohler’s book informative and riveting. However, until historians of all types take up his lead and more closely scrutinize what he has brought forcefully to the forefront, that Germany descended into a suggestible stupefaction to condone murderous ways and stepped into the abyss at the beckoning of a madman, as opposed to rational people behaving knowledgeably in all ways contrary to that rationality, well, this will have to await much further study.
Show Less
LibraryThing member write-review
Opioid Crisis … in Nazi Germany
Norman Ohler puts forth a straightforward thesis: Nazi Germany, top to bottom, military included, suffered a generalized addiction to opioids, particularly methamphetamine, marketed as Pervitin; the chief dopehead was Hitler; the head doper was Theodor Morell,
This doesn’t discount the value of Ohler’s research and presentation, but it does mean readers need to approach it cautiously and not allow themselves to be sweep up in it as a unifying theory. The real value here may be that Ohler, a novelist outsider, gives impetus for historians of all disciplines—medical, military, political, and social—to take a closer look at drug use in pre- and Nazi Germany and perhaps eventually incorporate it into their more expansive and inclusive histories and biographies of the times and the people.
In his text, supported by hundreds of footnotes, Ohler covers the development of the drug industry in Germany preceding the rise of the Nazis and WWII. He shows how methamphetamine captured the imagination of people, got branded as Pervitin, and then smartly packaged and sold to doctors and the general public. Reading Ohler’s colorful recounting, you could easily believe the entire country in the 1930s was guzzling down Pervitin in tablet form and mixed with foods, such as chocolates. If you didn’t know how damaging meth is, you might find the whole affair amusing.
He goes on to show how Pervitin wormed its way into the military as a stimulant for pushing soldiers beyond normal human endurance to create an impression of supermen at war. Ohler’s portrayals of selected military engagements, among them the storming of Poland and the overrunning of France, do give you pause. But no drug works forever, as your body builds tolerances, initiating a vicious and deadly cycle in search of the first ecstatic high. In other words, even if meth may have played a roll in winning some encounters, eventually it became a debilitating addictive failure, as Ohler points out.
Then there is Hitler himself, the man portrayed to Germans as pure of body and the mightier for it; who, with his Nazi cohorts, propagandized for a healthy society and the banishment of drugs, bad eating habits, and nasty “unnatural” sex. Ohler devotes half the book to the Leader and his personal physician, who over time morphed into Hitler’s personal drug supplier, always at his side, always ready with a pill, with an injection of morphine and later on an opioid cousin, Eukodal. That Hitler was in the thrall of medical concoctions to mitigate any number of unsettling maladies, especially of the alimentary canal, is well known. Many also accept he became an addict. Ohler posits complete and debilitating addiction that extended to Hitler’s thought processes and decision-making ability; in short, Hitler behaved irrationally. Though Ohler takes a paragraph to militate against the pages of evidence he has presented, the impression a reader takes away is the opposite, that in fact Hitler became unhinged and borderline insane, particularly in the 1940s, concluding in a complete break from reality and the fanatical about destroying his own country.
So, readers interested in Hitler, in Nazi Germany, in German military performance in WWII, and the destructive effects of rampant drug use, all will find Ohler’s book informative and riveting. However, until historians of all types take up his lead and more closely scrutinize what he has brought forcefully to the forefront, that Germany descended into a suggestible stupefaction to condone murderous ways and stepped into the abyss at the beckoning of a madman, as opposed to rational people behaving knowledgeably in all ways contrary to that rationality, well, this will have to await much further study.
Norman Ohler puts forth a straightforward thesis: Nazi Germany, top to bottom, military included, suffered a generalized addiction to opioids, particularly methamphetamine, marketed as Pervitin; the chief dopehead was Hitler; the head doper was Theodor Morell,
Show More
Hitler’s personal physician. Ohler cites reams of original research dug out of Nazi files (Nazis were big documentarians) to support his proposition. In many ways, he presents a very appealing case, something like, if you will allow, The General Theory of Nazi Inhumanity, or The General Theory of German Blindness, depending on whether you can’t allow yourself to believe rational people capable of committing massive atrocities, or you wish to excuse how a nation could allow millions to be slaughtered in fulfillment of a political ideology. This doesn’t discount the value of Ohler’s research and presentation, but it does mean readers need to approach it cautiously and not allow themselves to be sweep up in it as a unifying theory. The real value here may be that Ohler, a novelist outsider, gives impetus for historians of all disciplines—medical, military, political, and social—to take a closer look at drug use in pre- and Nazi Germany and perhaps eventually incorporate it into their more expansive and inclusive histories and biographies of the times and the people.
In his text, supported by hundreds of footnotes, Ohler covers the development of the drug industry in Germany preceding the rise of the Nazis and WWII. He shows how methamphetamine captured the imagination of people, got branded as Pervitin, and then smartly packaged and sold to doctors and the general public. Reading Ohler’s colorful recounting, you could easily believe the entire country in the 1930s was guzzling down Pervitin in tablet form and mixed with foods, such as chocolates. If you didn’t know how damaging meth is, you might find the whole affair amusing.
He goes on to show how Pervitin wormed its way into the military as a stimulant for pushing soldiers beyond normal human endurance to create an impression of supermen at war. Ohler’s portrayals of selected military engagements, among them the storming of Poland and the overrunning of France, do give you pause. But no drug works forever, as your body builds tolerances, initiating a vicious and deadly cycle in search of the first ecstatic high. In other words, even if meth may have played a roll in winning some encounters, eventually it became a debilitating addictive failure, as Ohler points out.
Then there is Hitler himself, the man portrayed to Germans as pure of body and the mightier for it; who, with his Nazi cohorts, propagandized for a healthy society and the banishment of drugs, bad eating habits, and nasty “unnatural” sex. Ohler devotes half the book to the Leader and his personal physician, who over time morphed into Hitler’s personal drug supplier, always at his side, always ready with a pill, with an injection of morphine and later on an opioid cousin, Eukodal. That Hitler was in the thrall of medical concoctions to mitigate any number of unsettling maladies, especially of the alimentary canal, is well known. Many also accept he became an addict. Ohler posits complete and debilitating addiction that extended to Hitler’s thought processes and decision-making ability; in short, Hitler behaved irrationally. Though Ohler takes a paragraph to militate against the pages of evidence he has presented, the impression a reader takes away is the opposite, that in fact Hitler became unhinged and borderline insane, particularly in the 1940s, concluding in a complete break from reality and the fanatical about destroying his own country.
So, readers interested in Hitler, in Nazi Germany, in German military performance in WWII, and the destructive effects of rampant drug use, all will find Ohler’s book informative and riveting. However, until historians of all types take up his lead and more closely scrutinize what he has brought forcefully to the forefront, that Germany descended into a suggestible stupefaction to condone murderous ways and stepped into the abyss at the beckoning of a madman, as opposed to rational people behaving knowledgeably in all ways contrary to that rationality, well, this will have to await much further study.
Show Less
LibraryThing member EricCostello
The title is sightly misleading, in that the book only really looks at three case studies; one, the use by Adolf Hitler of an appalling cocktail of medications, something that's been known but is presented in an organized fashion here; two, the use by the German armed forces of stimulants,
Show More
something that's also been known but is presented in an organized fashion here; and three, the use of a particular medication, Pervitin, which I don't think has really been presented before. The book doesn't really go into whether or not the regime tried to fight drugs or booze, except touching on it tangentially. Still, an interesting book. Show Less
LibraryThing member tuckerresearch
Norman Ohler is a novelist, so this is a very readable account of drugs in Nazi Germany, with special emphasis on (a) Hitler's drug use via his physician Theodor Morell and (b) the use of drugs, especially methamphetamines (particularly sold under the brand name Pervitin), by soldiers, sailors, and
It appears to be well-researched and well-cited. Some useful illustrations. At times, Ohler gets novelistic and journalistic, instead of historianistic. He puts himself into the research story a few times, and is fond of a turn of phrase here and there. This book is an interesting new window into the Third Reich and, taken with some grains of salt, is essential for a complete understanding of the blitz and Hitler's health (and psychopathy).
Fun fact: Michael Stipe helped suggest to Ohler the punny title for the book in English (p. 227).
Show More
officers during the war. There are some other side topics, but these two dominate. Ohler's main theses are: (a) that Hitler was addicted to and reliant on a whole cocktail of drugs administered via syringe by the quackish Morell, especially Eukodal (a trade name for oxycodone), and that Hitler's quirks, decision-making, and physical degradation can be attributed in whole or part to these drugs. (Ohler goes out of his way to maintain, however, that Hitler and the Nazis are still responsible for their decisions and actions.) And, (b) the performance of German troops can be partially explained by their reliance on drugs: the blitzkrieg of France was aided by soldiers hopped up on meth and were go go go for two or three days straight, blindsiding the French and British.It appears to be well-researched and well-cited. Some useful illustrations. At times, Ohler gets novelistic and journalistic, instead of historianistic. He puts himself into the research story a few times, and is fond of a turn of phrase here and there. This book is an interesting new window into the Third Reich and, taken with some grains of salt, is essential for a complete understanding of the blitz and Hitler's health (and psychopathy).
Fun fact: Michael Stipe helped suggest to Ohler the punny title for the book in English (p. 227).
Show Less
Awards
The Observer Book of the Year (History — 2016)
Los Angeles Public Library Best of the Year (Non-Fiction — 2017)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-10-06
Physical description
304 p.; 5.31 inches
ISBN
1328915344 / 9781328915344