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Comment by jobu | Hacker News Reader

Is this a legitimate article? There are few factual errors mentioned here in other comments[1][2] that have my internet bullshit detector primed, and then I see this quote from Ohler highlighted in the article:

“I have a good friend, a Berlin underground DJ, who told me once that the Nazis took loads of drugs. I couldn’t believe it.”

That seems like a very spurious source of knowledge about Nazi drug use.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10355245

[2]https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10355418

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The fact that Hitler was a serious addict is true. He was also bipolar, and it is quite likely that the combination has contributed a lot to the beginning of the end of Operation Barbarossa in 1943 (through his faulty decision about not attacking Moscow in 1941, before winter, and before Stalin realized what is really happening). The thing to remember is that amphetamines were way more acceptable in the early 1940s (because the bad side effects were not yet that obvious), for example Wehrmacht soldiers had "superpower chocolate bars" beefed up with amphetamine. They were allowed to consume it in a dire situation. There is a lot of unnecessary buzzing happening in the article though.

I think you're on the right track... From what I've heard as well was that in the later stages of the war, the army largely marched on a stomach full of meth (so to speak). Facts like those could bolster the rumor mill in propping up semi-gossip style information.

I did also have a history professor say that Hitler actually went blind for a couple of days when he heard that the Americans landed on European shores.

It's pretty common knowledge. My grandfather, a German conscript in WWII, used to boast about how fucked up they got on amphetamines (stolen, prescribed) leading to psychosis to the point they were discharged and ordered to drive food supply trucks around instead. Lucky for him as he was in Italy and was a civilian when they surrendered.

Panzer Candy aka Pervitin was used widely and the Allies also used stimulants.

They had something better in the pipeline too: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D-IX

It wasn't just the Nazis. Amphetamines were used by many different militaries to varying effects, including the US. Hitler's drug use is also well documented. (As is JFK's.)

It's really not hard to believe. The current form of drug treaties and opinions is a distinctly post WWII phenomenon.

I believe the US military still offers drugs to its soldiers, but they are very strictly regulated and presumably are more rationally provisioned. War can be very mentally and physically stressful, and drugs tend to be the best short term option to ameliorate this stress and keep the machine running.

Nothing like meth or speed, though. Terrible for soldiers. I believe there is a high association between meth use and vulnerability to mental trauma.

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