Shelf Indulgence - “Blitzed”
Hallo my dears!
How are we today? 🤗
We Germans have one trait in common— and no, it is not the love for beer or ‘Bundesliga’; it is a habit that’s much more steeped in history than soccer-stars or barley-broo. We Germans are obsessed with looking back—and I am no exception. In school, we learn the matrix of historical horrors which Nazi Germany brought to the world; in our holidays abroad, we get confronted with Hitler jokes and Nazi salutes even in this day and age; and I personally experienced many culturally inappropriate conversations (at least for me) in India.
I specifically remember an older family friend who enthusiastically praised Hitler as “the hero who united Europe and invented Mercedes Benz” (sometimes, historical inaccuracy has its own unique charm), and after I told him that I am an entrepreneur myself, recommended that I read “Mein Kampf” for its leadership insights. The ‘Fuehrer', it seems, has not lost a tiny bit of his 'mystical magic', neither in Europe nor in the rest of the world, but rather experiences a ghostly revival in the light of America’s alt-right movement or Germany’s AFD.
So when Berlin-based novelist and film-maker Norman Ohler published “Blitzed” in early 2017, it was no surprise that it shot up high on all bestseller lists, and is already translated into 18 languages. Ohler, who himself experimented with LSD and amphetamines, researched a part of German history that, for the longest time, was only a minor footnote for established historians: the role of narcotics in Nazi Germany. “I guess drugs weren’t a priority for them,” he stated in an interview, “a crazy guy like me had to come along.” The result couldn’t be more ground-breaking: 'High Hitler' instead of ‘Heil Hitler'.
There is, for example, Doctor Theodor Morell, Hitler's personal physician (you may also call him V.I.P. drug dealer), who was responsible for Hitler's intake "of 150 tablets and 8–10 infections per week” towards the end of WWII, and who has, until now, never played a significant role in any historical discourse about the Third Reich.
“Blitzed" shows copies of Morell’s detailed notes for “Patient A” (A for Adolf), written in a squiggly script, almost impossible to read. The book describes a momentous event during the later days of the war, in which the American Intelligence Service had access to Morell's notes, but was not able to decipher the doctor’s griffonage. Maybe history would have taken a different turn, if Morell’s hand writing had been a tad tidier? The Americans then could have known that Hitler, well, was high as a kite.
“Blitzed” is full of these mind-boggling insights and perspectives, and therefore a book that literally goes, pun intended, under the skin and straight into the bloodlines. Ohler also gives the relevant context of Germany’s open access to narcotics in the 1920s: a time, where cocaine was mixed in Coca Cola, and Pervertin, a wonder stimulus (today known as Chrystal Meth), was concealed in chocolate pralines and sold under the slogan “Mother’s little helper” (just imagine all these tripped-out housewives frantically cleaning their kitchens!). From there, Ohler continues to explain the collective loss of reality in Nazi Germany from 1933 until the moment Hitler and his newly-wed bride Eva Braun killed themselves in Berlin’s ‘Fuehrerbunker’ shortly before the Allied Forces announced the end of WWII.
“Blitzed” is a beautifully written book, based on five years of intense research. Norman Ohler’s novelistic skills uplift the narrative almost to the level of a 'historical thriller' —but for the fact that the content is so disturbingly real. Nevertheless, you have to be a bit of a history buff to really enjoy the read over its 300 pages, as the book goes into meticulous details of war campaigns, provides elaborate background checks of core characters, and embellishes the narrative with many German names and terms.
If you are only interested in the key take-aways, then this review might be sufficient enough. ☺️ Ohler states that (1) Hitler was a (massive) drug addict; (2) what was thought to be Parkinson seemed to be nothing but Hitler experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms (his trembling hands had been the reason for many rumours); (3) half of the German army was tripping on large amounts of Chrystal Meth and Cocaine while invading France during the famous ‘Blitzkrieg’; a fact that helps explain the Wehrmacht’s unscrupulousness and the soldier’s non-existent need for sleep (and how the ‘happy pills' therefore played a crucial role in the campaign’s ‘success’); (4) drugs were a systematic weapon used by the German Wehrmacht right until the end of WWII, with soldiers acting as guinea pigs (knowledge about dosage, impact, and addiction potential was not available at this point of time).
However, it is important to highlight that the author makes it very clear that drug usage did and— does not— take away the responsibility for all the horrible actions done under the Nazi regime—neither from Hitler, nor from any other person involved (a harsh Guardian newspaper review has suggested that this thought is the book's concealed aim).
And, even if only half of what Ohler describes in “Blitzed" is close to the truth, his work has helped to de-mystify Hitler’s personality in a completely new perspective, and allows the reader to see the ‘Fuehrer’ a bit more the way he really was: a simple man without any super powers—but many super powders.
