Book Review: Blitzed - Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler Part 3

History 101:
Book review: Blitzed - Drugs in Nazi Germany By Norman Ohler Part Three
In my last part of my book review on Blitzed I will be giving my opinions on the third element of the book: Hitler's personal physician/doctor.

Theodor Morell: "Short and fat"

Many people, Historians or not, would probably struggle to name who Hitler's personal doctor was and most importantly what impact he had on Hitler's life. Theodor Morell, Born in July 1886, plays a pivotal role in Hitler's later life and is, in my opinion, the protagonist in Ohler's Blitzed. Through the swaying narrative of Germany and its supposedly abusive relationship with drugs in Blitzed, Morell definitely brings a needed break to the monotonous cry of Germany this and Wehrmacht that. Theodor Morell certainly followed its trends of being drug infused however his story helps to create a different and darker picture of The Third Reich and drugs.

 We meet Morell in post-war Nazi Germany. He successfully had his own medical practice in Berlin, which he had been running for years. It had actually become well-known for its radical treatment through hormones and injections. Ohler describes beautifully the serendipity* of Morell's first connection with the Nazis. Morell sees a patient, in 1935, called Heinrich Hoffmann. This just so happens to be Hitler's personal photographer. Hoffmann was thought to have a life threatening disease in his digestive system that would surely kill him. Morell being Morell doesn't turn Hoffmann down, partly because it was the Nazis but mostly because Morell saw this as a perfect platform to show off his new treatment... Vitamins.

Morell and Hitler

It can be argued that vitamins were not technically invented by then, which is true, but it is an early form of them and was very new in 1935. Morell, not 100% knowing what the effect would be, injected intravenously several vitamins and hormones to try and treat Hoffmann. It worked! Hoffmann reported his successful treatment to Hitler and Morell was away! In 1936, after meeting Hitler personally over dinner, Morell was invited to treat Hitler's severe stomach cramps. After injecting vitamins and various other concoctions, Hitler's pains seemed to fade drastically. Hitler was convinced that Morell's unconventional treatment worked and signed him up as his personal Physician.

Over the ten years of Morell treating Hitler, he prescribed or injected a total of 23 different substances. Some innocent ,such as caffeine, however some rather more sinister ,such as Eukodal or Methamphetamine. Morell's medical reports of Hitler's drug intake are probably the most dubious documents on the planet. Morell was constantly scared of being investigated by the SS if anything went wrong with Hitler, therefore he was always very thorough when recording Hitler's drug intake. Well, that's what Ohler states. In my opinion many drugs may have even been given to Hitler off the record on purpose, so that the SS couldn't find out. Maybe the more serious drugs, such as Eukodal. Ohler makes a significant point that Eukodal was 'the wonder drug' ,which Morell injected into Hitler from 1944-45.

Eukodal prescription

Eukodal is a form of opium and can have extremely harsh consequences when one becomes dependant on it but very effective highs and painkilling. Ohler claims that Hitler's rash decisions and constant trembling in his arms was down to Eukodal, and also methamphetamine which he was also taking. The one problem with all these hard drugs which Hitler supposedly took is that the evidence, like usual with Ohler, is rather vague or even non existent. Ohler worked out that an 'X' on Hitler's drug reports could mean cocaine or eukodal or even pervitin. Even though Eukodal is mentioned on reports every now and then, its not enough to assume that it gave such negative effects and even that Hitler was taking enough to damage him. Ohler yet again overstates the sheer amount of drugs. Its a shame because the chapters about Hitler and his personal Physician are honestly fascinating. The relationship and bond formed through pharmaceutical vitamins, drugs and hormones is uncanny. So much so, by the end of 1944 Hitler refused to see his other practitioner because apparently 'His drugs weren't as good'. Brilliant?!!

I would recommend this book, not just because its written and researched well but contains and reeks of controversy! It typifies the madness of the Third Reich and some. Travelling from the 'Pharmaceutical Genius' of the Blitzkrieg to the 'drug infested' wolfs lair. Its definitely not a light read and will require a decent amount of focus to enjoy but trust me its seriously interesting and one of the best books I have read for a while. Warning; take most things Norman Ohler writes with a pinch of salt because as I've mentioned in previous parts, some of it is blown way out of proportion. I'm going to rate it a 3/5 because an interesting read however there are some key flaws which let it down.

SPECIAL MENTION: The chapter about the drugs which made the one man submarine super weapon possible is very good however I feel I didn't have enough time to go fully in depth about it here.

RATING: 🌟🌟🌟

Thanks for reading! This series seemed to be very popular judging by the view count so please email me if you enjoyed my review and want me to do more. I have a possible three more book reviews on the horizon however now I'm going to go back to answering major questions again! Something holocaust based next week! maybe email suggestions....

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