Blitzkrieg and the drug "Pervitin". The Third Reich did not sleep for two days

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

In 1939, the Nazis made an unprecedented move: they were able to occupy Poland in less than a month. In many ways, they succeeded thanks to a well-developed attack scheme. However, just a deliberate offensive was not enough. The Germans had another weapon that kept the soldiers awake for several days. Only it turned out to be as destructive as it is effective.

During the preparation of the attack on Poland, the command of the Third Reich decided to use the mechanism of the so-called "blitzkrieg" or "lightning war". The principle is to concentrate mechanized units in one place with the aim of breaking through the enemy's defense line and further destroying it.

This tactic made it possible to advance long distances in a short period of time. The author of the "lightning war" in Poland was the commander of the armored forces, Heinz Guderian.

Interesting fact:after the failure in the Moscow direction of the tank units entrusted to the general during the invasion of the USSR, his relations with Hitler worsened, and by the end of the war, the Fuhrer simply hated him.

However, within the framework of the developed strategy, the soldiers were required not to sleep for at least two days in a row. Moreover, this condition was fundamental: in another case, the speed of the attack and advance of the troops falls, the Polish army would have time to mobilize to contain the offensive - and Guderian's plan would have simply failed. Therefore, the colonel-general personally instructed the crews of the mechanized units that in order to complete the assigned task, they must stay awake for 48 hours. But it was not immediately clear how to do this. The doctors found a way out.

Back in 1937, the German Temmler laboratory developed a new drug called Pervitin. The drug was a derivative of methanfetamine and affected the human body in the following way: after taking it, there was excitement and exacerbation of feelings, the person felt vigorous, full of strength and energy, felt lightness and euphoria, was confident and thought clearly.

Initially, pervitin was a commercial drug produced for the civilian population and was actively used in medicine. A year later, its distribution reached a new level: it was even added to confectionery - the substance was in the composition of sweets. But in 1939, pervitin began to be used in the military sphere. Control over the introduction and use of the drug was entrusted to the director of the Institute of General and Military Physiology, psychotherapist Otto Ranke.

The psychotherapist officer was seriously carried away by research, in particular, he organized a series of tests to analyze the main properties of the drug. The results of the study showed that patients who took pervitin felt vigorous, energetic both physically and mentally for a long time, and the effect continued to hold even after 10 hours of the "regime" of constant attention.

However, in the course of the research, the negative consequences of taking the substance were also clarified: the subjects, being under its influence, were unable to perform tasks of increased complexity.

But these problems did not bother Ranke. He continued to argue that Pervitin should be used for the needs of the army, describing it as "an excellent medicine for the immediate inspiration of tired troops," justifying this as follows: actions".

After a while, after an additional series of tests, Ranke realized that his "medicine" is in fact a drug, the consequence of the regular use of which is the strongest addiction, both physical and psychological. A week before the invasion of Poland, the doctor sent a letter to the medical general of the General Staff of the Army, where he pointed out the potential danger of the substance: "You can give soldiers this medicine without restrictions only in urgent cases, since it, apparently, can have a negative effect." …

But it was already too late: for the German troops, more than 35 million "Pervitin" were already manufactured in the form of tablets, which were soon delivered to the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht. The drug was presented as a "stimulant" and cheaper alternative to caffeine. Also, along with pervitin, a slightly lighter form was produced - isophene.

The soldiers began taking pills literally from the very beginning of the invasion, on September 1, 1939. Tankers who used pervitin during hostilities sent information about the results. The impressions of many were purely positive: they felt euphoria, cheerfulness, they could work for a long time without fatigue. Moreover, the substance made it easier to endure pain and even dulled the feeling of hunger.

Having received such encouraging information, Otto Ranke already believed that the use of the drug had not become as dangerous as he thought. However, his initial guesses were correct, and the warnings were forgotten: after the "effect" experienced, the soldiers began to take it regularly, on the eve of each night throw.

The constant use of pervitin led to the fact that the organisms of the tankers got used to it, and to maintain the effect they needed more and more pills. Some had to take already a double dose of the drug. Soon the practice of uncontrolled drug use began to show more and more negative properties.

One of the first symptoms was achromasia - a violation of color perception. Then other side effects appeared: constant being in a state of nervous tension caused mental health problems, which led to nervous breakdowns. Younger soldiers had bouts of visual and auditory hallucinations, sometimes delusional states.

However, the use of pervitin had another, more severe result: its effect can accumulate over time. According to Novate.ru, many soldiers and officers died from the consequences of uncontrolled intake of the drug months after the capture of Poland, already during the occupation of France.

Doctors, realizing the danger of the drug, in 1941 added it to the list of "restricted substances". But the soldiers, already addicted to pervitin, even in letters to their relatives asked to send another portion of the pills. The flow of drug-drugs to the front did not stop.