The perfect German soldier is one that
never has to eat, never has to sleep, and
always makes the right decisions. In
their search for a super soldier the
Nazis stumbled into a world of
psychoactive substances and amphetamines,
which ultimately led to their downfall.
Hitler and his government opposed any
drugs that would alter the mind, claiming
it impure to poison the body. They were
so devout in their mission of clear
society of its drug addictions, they set
up a tattle-tale system in which German
citizens could "convey observations about
drug addicted acquaintances and family
members so that corrective action can be
taken immediately."
 
German propaganda at the time directly equated Jews to bacilli or pathogens.
Even children's books carried a similar message.
In "The Poisonous Mushroom," Jews and drugs were
combined into a single metaphor to teach children that Jews like drugs must be eradicated.
This stemmed from the
anti-semitic view that Jews themselves were poisonous society.
In 1938, a Berlin-based pharmaceutical company
called Temmler created a medicine in
hopes of taming drug abuse that could
relieve drug users of the symptoms they
experienced from withdrawal of cocaine,
alcohol, and even opiates. The drug called
Pervitin was Methamphetamine in tablet
form and was available without
prescription in Germany.
It would increase alertness and productivity and
curb appetite.
The German army recognized that while their greatest foe was the Allied forces their biggest
battle would be against fatigue and
sleep.
Military doctor Otto Friedrich Ranke
took notice of the drug's popularity in
both the public and it's unofficial use
in the military. Some missions demanded
the soldier stay awake for three days
and three nights at a time.
It was decided that overcoming sleep was more important than a concern for any related health risks.
In Ranke's own words, "...relaxing on the
day of fighting can decide the battle."
Hitler had been experiencing abdominal
and digestive issues.
Per his personal physician,
Theo Morell, he began taking hormone
injections and custom multivitamins to
ease his pain. To keep the Fuhrer alert
and fresh for his daily meetings Morell
started sneaking more and more insidious
substances into Hitler's daily hormone
injections, over time growing the
concoction to over 80 different
substances
An important meeting with Mussolini was scheduled for 1943 to discuss Italy
switching sides in the war. The night
before, Hitler's stomach pains and anxiety
reached a new level and Morell's normal
injections weren't doing the trick.
Morell had a medication he knew might work to quell Hitler's violent spastic
constipation and pain the drug was
called Eukodal, an opioid painkiller
made from Oxycodone. Morell knew Hitler's
chances of becoming addicted and
dependent on the drug were high but
decided to take the risk and save the
next day's meeting administering
another dose right before it started.
Hitler was apparently in such good spirits and giddy with enthusiasm that Mussolini
barely got a word in and wasn't able to
withdraw Italy's support for Germany.
On July 20th 1944 a group of German
conspirators unsuccessfully attempted to
assassinate Hitler and prominent SS
officers with a briefcase bomb.
The explosion from this failed coup left
Hitler almost deaf and as the Eukodal
wore off, his whole body ached. Because
his eardrums were ruptured, an ear, nose,
and throat specialist was called. At the
time, Cocaine was the best local
anesthesia available, so nose and throat
dabs of the drug were administered
Hitler was now addicted to Pervitin
Eukodal, and Cocaine among the slush of
other concoctions Morell was injecting.
Medical historians have now diagnosed
Hitler as suffering from Parkinson's
disease. All the drugs couldn't have helped.
The 150 tablets and 8-10
injections every week quickly
deteriorated his body.
Hitler had to put his hands on his legs
to make the shaking less visible when he
was sitting down.
In late 1944, the British bombing campaigns aimed at Germany's manufacturing sector destroyed
much of Merck's facilities greatly
limiting the supply of Eukodal.
Hitler was now in full withdrawal. Now his tooth enamel was decaying, his gums were drying up,
and his ruinous teeth were falling out,
his brain irreversibly damaged by
neurotoxins was no longer receiving
stimulation. He started digging into his
yellow skin with a pair of golden
tweezers with aggressive nervous
movements to get rid of the bacteria.
He was full on losing it. In early 1945, he saw his impending doom.
He had now become what he despised; a man controlled by the substances he once condemned.
This video was based off this book I
just read called Blitzed by Norman Ohler.
I'm on this WW2 kick right now and there's just so much
interesting stuff out there to learn and
I thought this was an interesting topic
to really look at Hitler's life and who
he was as a person and what motivated
him to make the decisions he made later
in his life.
I mentioned before in the video that Hitler's personal doctor Theo Morell was injecting him with up to 80
different substances so here's me trying
to read and pronounce all these
substances in German
Acidol-Pepsin, 
Antiphlogistine,
Argentum nitricum,
Belladonna Obstinol, 
Benerva forte, 
Betabion, 
Bismogenol,
Brom-Nervacit,
Brovaloton-Bad,
