3. Many German Soldiers Suffered All the Symptoms of Methamphetamine Addiction
The addition of cocaine to the methamphetamine of Pervitin resulted in an even more addictive drug cocktail. Millions in the German military could not get enough of their de facto crystal meth, and especially not enough of their crystal meth after it got laced with cocaine. Many wrote home and begged their loved ones to send them Pervitin via military mail. One such was Heinrich Boll, a German postwar author who won the 1972 Nobel Prize for literature. For example, in a May 20th, 1940 letter to his parents, 22-year-old Boll begged them to send him some Pervitin, which he said not only kept him alert but also chased away his worries.
Millions of Pervitin pills were issued before the launch of Operation Barbarossa, the German surprise attack against the USSR. They became incredibly popular with the troops, who nicknamed them “tank chocolate“. However, hooking the troops on cocaine-laced crystal meth produced serious problems. The long-term effects were disastrous, and short rest periods were inadequate to make up for the long stretches of wakefulness as the soldiers tweaked on methamphetamine. Millions became addicts, with side effects such as copious sweat, dizziness, depression, and hallucinations. There were also numerous psychotic episodes, in which soldiers shot themselves or their comrades. In the meantime, however, Nazi soldiers performed feats of super stamina and endurance that awed their opponents.
