Benzedrine, Pervitin, and WWII

Benzedrine, Pervitin, and WWII

39:42 Feb 16, 2026
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The use of stimulants during WWII is no secret, but in the last decade, there has been a lot of discussion and analysis of it. Just how significant was drug use in Nazi Germany, and how did the Allies compare? Research: Ackermann, Paul. “Les soldats nazis dopés à la méthamphétamine pour rester concentrés.” HuffPost France. June 4, 2013. https://www.huffingtonpost.fr/actualites/article/les-soldats-nazis-dopes-a-la-methamphetamine-pour-rester-concentres_19714.html Andreas, Peter. “How Methamphetamine Became a Key Part of Nazi Military Strategy.” Time. Jan. 7, 2020. https://time.com/5752114/nazi-military-drugs/ Blakemore, Erin. “A Speedy History of America’s Addiction to Amphetamine.” Smithsonian. Oct. 27, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/speedy-history-americas-addiction-amphetamine-180966989/ Boeck, Gisela, and Vera Koester. “Who Was the First to Synthesize Methamphetamine?” Chemistry Views. https://www.chemistryviews.org/9-who-first-synthesized-methamphetamine/ “Ephedra.” National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.” https://www.nccih.nih.gov/health/ephedra Eghigian, Greg, PhD. “A Methamphetamine Dictatorship? Hitler, Nazi Germany, and Drug Abuse.” Psychiatric Times. June 23, 2016. https://www.psychiatrictimes.com/view/methamphetamine-dictatorship-hitler-nazi-germany-and-drug-abuse Garber, Megan, “‘Pilot’s Salt’: The Third Reich Kept Its Soldiers Alert With Meth.” The Atlantic. May 31, 2013. https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/05/pilots-salt-the-third-reich-kept-its-soldiers-alert-with-meth/276429/ Gifford, Bill. “The Scientific AmericanGuide to Cheating in the Olympics.” Scientific American. August 5, 2016. https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-scientific-american-guide-to-cheating-in-the-olympics/ Gorvett, Zaria. “The Drug Pilots Take to Stay Awake.” BBC. March 14, 2024. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240314-the-drug-pilots-take-to-stay-awake Grinspoon, Lester. “The speed culture : amphetamine use and abuse in America.” Harvard University Press. 1975. Accessed online: https://archive.org/details/speedcultureamph0000grin_n3i0/mode/1up Gupta, Raghav et al. “Understanding the Influence of Parkinson Disease on Adolf Hitler's Decision-Making during World War II.” World Neurosurgery. Volume 84, Issue 5. 2015. Pages 1447-1452. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wneu.2015.06.014. Hurst, Fabienne. “The German Granddaddy of Crystal Meth.” Spiegel. Dec. 23, 2013. https://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/crystal-meth-origins-link-back-to-nazi-germany-and-world-war-ii-a-901755.html Isenberg, Madison. “Volksdrogen: The Third Reich Powered by Methamphetamine.” The Macksey Journal. University of Texas at Tyler. Volume 4, Article 21. 2023. https://scholarworks.uttyler.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1001&context=senior_projects Laskow, Sarah. “Brewing Bad: The All-Natural O
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