During World War 2, he served all over Europe as well as the Soviet Union.
Today I’m writing you mainly to ask for some Pervitin.
Today we know this drug as methamphetamine, or crystal meth.
Methamphetamine is an awfully potent drug.
Methamphetamine also has a strong aphrodisiac effect that makes it a popular party drug.
Ranke promoted methamphetamine as a miracle drug that would help Germany achieve victory over the Allies.
Pervitin for German soldiers was dispensed in these tablet containers.
For others, it was Herman-Goring-Pills (Hermann-Goring-Pillen).
But more often than not, soldiers under extreme stress took more than the prescribed dose.
During the attack I had taken too much Pervitin.
We had all been dependent on it for a long time.
Everyone swallowed the stuff, more frequently and in greater doses.
The pills seemed to remove the sense of agitation.
I slid into a world of bright indifference.
Danger lost its edge.
One’s own power seemed to increase.
Workers at the Temmler factory in Berlin that manufactured Pervitin for the German army and Luftwaffe.
No drugs, no invasion, Ohler toldThe Guardianin an interview.
When Hitler heard about the plan to invade through Ardennes, he loved it.
Rommel and all those tank commanders were high and without the tanks, they certainly wouldnt have won.
After an intense firefight, the men managed to throw off their pursuers.
Koivunen remembered that he carried the group’s entire supply of Pervitin in his breast pocket.
He decided to take one.
So he grabbed a handful and popped them all in his mouth.
Koivunen would later learn that he had taken all of the Pervitin in his pocketa total of 30 pills.
Aimo Koivunen
Within a few minutes an intense energy surged through his entire body.
Koivunen described the sensation like being born a new man.
With Koivunens new found energy the group made hasty progress through the snow.
But the effects lasted only for a short duration.
When he woke up from his trace-like state, Koivunen found himself 100 kilometers away.
He had lost his patrol, his ammunition and food.
He had no recollection of this phase of his journey.
This state of delirium lasted several days, with alternating phases of wakefulness and sleep.
A replica of Pervitine medicine box, similar to those issued in the military.
These collectiblesare availableat 12 Euro apiece.
Koivunens riveting account became the first documented case of a soldier overdosing on methamphetamine during combat.
Also, the number of accidents among the Luftwaffe pilots increased noticeably.
Still, ten million tablets were shipped to troops that same year.
Toward the end of the war, Germany began testing a new stimulanta pill code-named D-IX.
But before the wonder drug could go into mass production, Germany lost the war.
Suggested reading:#Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich, by Norman Ohler
