A book published in Germany this summer adds new information to old stories about Adolf Hitler’s drug use and amphetamine use among German soldiers during World War II. The author even suggests that drugs played a major role in the war, proving decisive in some of the Third Reich’s military successes, but also leading a drug-addled Hitler to make decisions that led to Germany’s defeat.
“Doctors and drugs account for much of the internal structure of Nazism,” writes Norman Ohler, author of the just released Der Totale Rausch [3] (Total Euphoria: Drugs in the Third Reich).
And it started at the top. According to Ohler, Hitler’s interest in drugs grew excessive under the ministrations of Dr. Theodor Morell, who became his personal physician in 1936. Morell started off prescribing the probiotic Mutaflor for Der Feuhrer’s painful stomach cramps, From there, Morell became Hitler’s own personal Dr. Feelgood for years to come, prescribing him the most powerful drugs of the day, including IV methamphetamine injections.