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Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany

Unabridged Audio Book

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Jonathan Keeble

7 Hours 47 Minutes

Penguin Books LTD

November 2016

Audio Book Summary

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of Blitzed by Norman Ohler, read by Jonathan Keeble.

The sensational German bestseller on the overwhelming role of drug-taking in the Third Reich, from Hitler to housewives.

'Bursting with interesting facts' Vice

'Extremely interesting ... a serious piece of scholarship, very well researched' Ian Kershaw

The Nazis presented themselves as warriors against moral degeneracy. Yet, as Norman Ohler's gripping bestseller reveals, the entire Third Reich was permeated with drugs: cocaine, heroin, morphine and, most of all, methamphetamines, or crystal meth, used by everyone from factory workers to housewives, and crucial to troops' resilience - even partly explaining German victory in 1940.

The promiscuous use of drugs at the very highest levels also impaired and confused decision-making, with Hitler and his entourage taking refuge in potentially lethal cocktails of stimulants administered by the physician Dr Morell as the war turned against Germany. While drugs cannot on their own explain the events of the Second World War or its outcome, Ohler shows, they change our understanding of it. Blitzed forms a crucial missing piece of the story.

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Reviews

  • Sam G.

    This is one of the most fascinating books on the Third Reich and Germany that I have ever read. In light of the crises that exist in contemporary America over drugs and methamphetamines it is amazing to see that Germany was going through the same crises and even more interesting to learn that many of the drugs of abuse that are common in contemporary society were developed by the Nazis. At the center of the story is Dr. Theodor Morell - a relatively obscure and not that well credentialed doctor - who became Hitler's drug dealer/supplier. Through extensive archival research, Norman Ohler was able to discover records that show Hitler's extensive drug use/abuse and track Morell's records of the kinds of drugs that he was giving Hitler. With the drugs that Morell was giving Hitler, its amazing that he even survived as long as he did. Parallel to the story of Hitler's drug use, Ohler also shows how the Nazis used drugs to enhance the performance of soldiers. Sleep was the enemy of the soldier in battle. With drugs, the Nazis sought to win that battle and passed out "uppers" to troops on a massive scale. "The fact was that between the autumn of 1941, when (Hitler) started being given hormone and steroid injections, and the second half of 1944, when first the cocaine and the above all the Eudodal kicked, Hitler hardly enjoyed a sober day." Pharmacology ruled and influenced Hitler and the outcome of the war. This book is a real page turner that gives a fascinating look into the life of Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich. Throughout the book, one wonders if history would have been different if this unknown doctor had not used his drugs on Hitler. How many lives could have been saved? What Ohler does not go into is the effect that the use of these drugs had on the hundreds of thousands of soldiers and members of the German population that used these drugs, which were available without a prescription and were widely available during much of the war. Where there long term physiological and physiological effects on those persons? That's a topic for another book and further research but it raises interesting questions.

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  • Ed Griffin

    Great book from start to finish. !!!!!

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  • Amanda Collins

    Fascinating read. Explains a lot about Hitler\'s irrational behavior. I recommend this book to the curious and to history buffs.

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