Blitzed, Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler opens a whole new dimension of the

importance and impact drugs had in the lives of Germans in the Nazi era. Though this book
is purely based on true incidents and researches and it is not fiction, but as you proceed
chapter by chapter and Hitler’s ideologies get revealed, it feels more like fiction. Too brutal
to be true. It is one such piece that changes our whole perspective of Germany under Nazi
rule. Norman Ohler is an author and a journalist, and this book is an outcome of his
extensive research and fact findings and that is why it stands out from all the different
books that we have on Germany during World WarII. Ohler describes Third Reich as an
altered state and the shows that every individual, from housewives to working professionals
to the soldiers of the nation, almost everyone was high, particularly on this pill called
Pervitin, which is known as crystal meth these days. About Adolf Hitler, Ohler describes his
journey from a teetotaler to a total junkie. The Fuhrer lived on methamphetamine,
supplemented with barbiturates, cocaine, steroids, sex hormones and a form of OxyContin.

The book unfolds shocking revelations which are also purging. Ohler tracks back post World
War I to comprehend the sudden increase of drugs in Nazi Germany. German scientists used
synthetic substances which can be produced artificially and started this whole drug
production. After the successful research process, came into the picture the German
pharmaceutical companies. They started producing varied types of substances in huge
quantities. From methamphetamine to cocaine, from aspirin to heroine, name any chemical
drug, and everything was available. The first chapter of the book described how drugs
became a regular commodity in every household, from prescribed medicine to the form of
fun candy, it was available everywhere. Pervitin was the most abused drug that was
manufactured and marketed by this company Temmler. Temmler ever started advertising
their products on streetcars and buses. Temmler took control over the hospitals and
physicians and started sending them free samples and forced them to experiment on
themselves. Soon Temmler was shipping millions of Pervitin pills each week. Previtin
became the go to medicine for everything, whether it’s fever or any physiological issue or
any mental issue, pervitin was the drug. Much later, in 1939 the head of the Reich Health
Office Leonardo Conti, started talking about the addictive nature of the drug and it’s
negative effects but no one really cared much and the drug’s popularity continued to soar.

Antisemitic mentality and the destructive greed to be the king of the world overpowered
Hitler's logical thought process. Methamphetamine was introduced to the German soldiers.
Initially, the healthy doses of the drug helped and bought home a few great victories, almost
all of Europe. Ardennes mountain conquest was done like a cakewalk by soldiers who stayed
up for 4 days straight. Not only that, it allowed the tank commanders to stay awake for up
to 17 days which is the most shocking revelation by the author. The strength of the book is
not only the rare documents that Ohler digged and also the supported pictures that was
assembled as proof to the writings, but also Ohler’s ability of character reading. One such
character is Otto F. Ranke, the head of the Research Institute of Defense Physiology and the
man behind the whole idea of introducing Previtin among the soldiers. Ranke was one of
those, who was a previtin addict and did magical things for the country in the earlier days
before the negative side effects of the drug kicked in. But to point out here, it felt like
Ranke’s character was a portrayal of Ohler’s imagination from close analysis of his
correspondence and notes from the fields. So, it is a little persuasive and unsubstantiated.
Till date it is an open question whether the success of blitzkrieg was because of Pervitin,
because some believes that Pervitin was merely a supplemental aid.

Hitler led a very disciplined life in his early days and was strictly against drugs. It is a very
strange story on how such a determined individual like Adolf Hitler fell into the trap of
prolific drug use. In 1936, at a dinner party thrown by Hitler's photographer, Heinrich
Hoffmann, Hitler suddenly fell sick with severe stomach aches and other symptoms. Doctor
Theodor Morell who was present at the party quickly came to the Fuhrer's rescue. He gave
Hitler capsules of Mutaflor, which contained the very dangerous strychnine and it helped
Hitler recover immediately. Thus Theo Morell became one of Hitler's favourites and was
assigned as his personal physician. Theo Morell is one such character in history who has
been overlooked by many but Ohler's extensive research helped to understand why Morell
is an important character who changed the fate of Hitler-ruled Germany. Ohler described in
detail how slowly Hitler became the super addict which finally resulted in his downfall. It has
been found that starting from 1940 till the end, Hitler used not just one, but a series of hard
drugs. The list is long and to name a few, it contained, methamphetamine (Crystal Meth),
Eukodal (a stronger version of Heroin), cocaine, and various animal stimulants (including bull
prostate and porcine adrenal glands). And Morell is the only person who single-handedly
made this happen. Ohler has very portraited Hitler as a fatally flawed man whose vengeful
mind was braced up by artificial stimulants. Though he tried to show that the major
mistakes of judgment of the Fuhrer that led to the downfall were because of Hitler’s drug
abuse, but at many the connections between events remained unclear and forcefully
matched. At one point, this thesis felt like a combination of some hard evidences and some
major speculation. Ohler’s analysis misses some scrutiny. In other way, it felt like Ohler tried
to identify the causation at places where there were only just correlations. Whether Hitler’s
opiod addiction was the reason for the failure of the last phase of war like Ohler mentioned
in the book seemed to be an unwarranted supposition. Also, an important part that was
missed by Ohler in this book was alcohol abuse. There is a very well documented link
between Holocaust and alcohol abuse, but that part is completely missing which kind of
makes the book a incomplete.

This book can be stated as a very intense and highly provocative one. Ohler did provided
new insights and highlighted few great findings that opened an alternated way to perceive
Hitler ruled Germany, but certain facts felt like leap of faith. And if Blitzed is supposed to be
a history book, then we can’t rely on leap of faith. In that case, Blitzed can be stated as very
interesting and absorbing historical fiction.