Skip to main content
PBS logo
 
 

Book Review of Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany

Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany
Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany
Author: Norman Ohler
Genre: History
Book Type: Hardcover
reviewed on + 1775 more book reviews


I have not yet seen the book, but the author flogged it on Terri Gross's excellent interview program out of WHYY yesterday (7 March 2017), including asking Mr. Ohler about a couple of criticisms of his work. Especially interesting was the fact that heavy bombing took out the factory that made a certain medication needed by Der Fuehrer and his doctor had to try to search for any surviving dispensing pharmacies in Berlin that still had it. Hitler's doctors don't seem as evil as I imagined from reading long ago some of the copious literature about the last year of the Third Reich. Ohler also notes how shaky he looks in newsreels after the assassination attempt. He needed to preserve a confident presence so that his generals would continue to believe in a secret weapon.
Much of the book concerns use of stimulants to keep soldiers awake during long battles.