Hello Everyone,
During WWII Germany kept it’s army awake and moving by the liberal use of Previtan, I can’t remember now if it was amphetamine or meth amphetamine. Did the use of this freely distributed drug produce a lot of post war addicts?
It was meth. Correct spelling for the German version is “Pervitin”, BTW. I couldn’t seem to find anything too useful about post-war addicts via Google, but knowing what meth does to its users, seems likely.
I’m sure there were some but I seem to remember reading about studies done on heroin addiction on returning Vietnam troops, and actually given the rate of usage of heroin in US troops in Vietnam, in the final years of the war, the number who had opioid addiction problems on return was actually quite low. It turns out a completely different environmenr, with completely different friends, surroundings, not to mention not being shot at, was quite a good way to kick a very addictive drug.
Additionally the fact Pervitin was, presumably, was completely legal would have reduced the harm caused and avoided all the problems associated with illegal drugs in US society post Vietnan.
More research is required. If stimulant use during the war was as widespread as some now report, it would change a lot of our understanding of those years.
Note a lot of the harm caused by meth in the modern US is the fact it is manufactured in illegal labs with no safety regulation:
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/the-new-brand-of-meth-fueling-l-a-s-homelessness-crisis/
While I’m sure addiction to Pervitin in post war Germany was not a good thing, it would not be as harmful as being addicted to illegal meth in the 21st century US.
The Wikipedia article says that by April 1941, its issue was tightly controlled due to the recognition of the side effects, and not recommended for use in combat (presumably by infantrymen/tankers). It also mentions them being called “Herman Goering pills”, which implies that they were commonly used by aircrew.
And it’s not like the Nazis were the only ones to use amphetamines/methamphetamines for aircrew/military purposes- the Allies gave them to bomber crews, and have been issued by the USAF for decades.
They were also called panzershokolade (tank chocolate) and Stuka Pills. From Retreat From Moscow by David Stahel:
Heedless of the health warnings, the OKW and the Reich Ministry for Arms and Ammunition declared Pervitin to be “decisive for the outcome of the war” and nowhere more so than in the eastern campaign. Accordingly, 30 million tablets were sent to the troops in 1941. [my note: this was after its ‘tight regulation’ in April 1941; Barbarossa didn’t even happen until June 1941] As doctors like Ottheinz Schultesteinberg recalled: “The stuff was just doled out. The motto was, come and get it!” The effects were undeniable, as Schultestingberg attested from his own use: “and I can tell you: it worked. It kept you awake, mercilessly.” During the winter of 1941-1942 Ernst Gerber nicknamed Pervitin “Stuka Pills.” and his diary showed pervasive, and even highly dangerous, levels of consumption. Serving as a doctor at a hospital in Roslavl, Gerber noted that the nurses and orderlies were also frequently taking it in order to cope with the unrelenting flow of wounded. Gerber himself only slept infrequently and by January 17 noted that, while “working like crazy,” he took Pervitin every four hours. Indeed, the highest prevalence of drug addicts throughout Germany in 1942 was among medical professionals.
The Germans also experimented with speedballs near the end of the war, D-IX was a mix of " 5 mg oxycodone (brand name Eukodal, an analgesic opioid), 5 mg cocaine, and 3 mg methamphetamine (brand name Pervitin)."
Nazi researchers found that equipment-laden prisoners from the Sachsenhausen concentration camp could march for up to 90 kilometers (55 miles) per day without rest while carrying a 20 kilogram (45 lb) backpack.
My dad served in the Pacific and saw many battles and invasions. He and his friends told me that they gave pep pills to the troops whenever there was a requirement to fight for more than a few days. Wartime censorship keep a lid on that.
An article in The Atlantic states that Pervitin wasn’t withdrawn from the West German army list of approved drugs until 1970, and that use in the East German armed forces extended into the 1980s.
The plot of one of the Jack Reacher novels (“61 Hours”) involves discovery of a huge stash of methamphetamines stored in an abandoned military base, supposedly surplus from as far back as the 1940s.
I have not heard of major speed-related drug problems in Germany (or elsewhere) due to military use.
Given the state that Germany was in at the end of the war there might have been no other choice than to quit cold turkey.
A lot of German Veterans of he War were in forced labor in Allied countries for years after the fighting was over, & many in the East never returned, alive or not.
No pep pills in labor camps.
Plenty of time to kick the habit.