Drugs in Nazi Germany

Norman OHLER, an award winning German novelist, has produced this book, BLITZED, which is about drugs in Nazi Germany. These simple words do not outline the horror in which OHLER uncovers in his trawl through the archives in Germany and in the U.S.A.

The Third Reich wanted to be viewed as pure and unblemished, but the story told here is that it was permeated with drugs: cocaine, morphine, heroin and with methamphetamine, more commonly known as crystal meth. It was marketed as Pervitin that allowed the body to function without sleep for days. This is how the 'blitzkrieg' soldiers kept up the pace of their advance and overrun their neighbours.

The 'fat doctor' and Hiltler's personal physician, Dr. Theodor Morrell was the entrepreneur with ambition that drove the production of anything that he could concoct not just for his master, but for all those either requiring it or required to take it. It is an amazing story of power for one man who had the ear of Hitler and whom Hitler depended upon for his daily treatments. In the end it all became far too much and The Führer was a wreck prior to his suicide.

There is a paragraph with the heading 'Business Trip to the Concentration Camp'. The camp being Sachsenhausen a place for many unfortunates of mixed backgrounds. One perfidious speciality of the camp was the 'shoe-walking unit'. A special track of 700 metres was laid down and inmates were made to walk under intense pressure to test the toughness of non-leather soles. It is said that 20 died each day. I suppose it compares with the other cruelties and behaviour associated with The Nazis.

It is a factual read and helps our under standing of some of what happened. According to the last sentence on the fly BLITZED forms a crucial missing piece of the story. It is very well translated by Shaun Whiteside. This is a must read for anyone exploring the facts behind The Reich.