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CobraCommander@quokk.au

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Purrvitin (quokk.au)

submitted 1 day ago by CobraCommander@quokk.au to c/historymemes@quokk.au

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Context: In 1938 Nazi Germany, Pervitin was developed a methamphetamine drug for civilian usage. Nazi military doctor Otto Friedrich Ranke tested the drug on 90 university students to study its effects, which led him to conclude that Pervitin could help Nazi Germany win the war.

Methamphetamine use is believed to have played a role in the speed of Nazi Germany's initial blitzkrieg operations. At the request of Vice-Admiral Hellmuth Heye for a stronger pill that would "keep soldiers ready for battle when they are asked to continue fighting beyond a period considered normal," a pharmacologist produced a pill dubbed D-IX. The new drug contained cocaine, whose effects substantially overlap with those of amphetamine but feature greater euphoria, and a morphine-based painkiller in addition to Pervitin.

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[–] Godric@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Reminds me of Aimo Koivunen, the first recorded Meth OD in combat

Koivunen was a Finnish soldier, assigned to a ski patrol on 15 March 1944 along with several other Finnish soldiers. Three days into their mission on 18 March, the group was attacked and surrounded by Soviet forces, from whom they were able to escape.[3] Koivunen became fatigued after skiing for a long distance but could not stop.

He was carrying his patrol's entire supply of army-issued Pervitin, or methamphetamine, a stimulant used to remain awake while on duty.[4] He consumed the entire supply of Pervitin, and had a short burst of energy, but soon entered a state of delirium and eventually lost consciousness. Koivunen later recalled waking up the following morning, separated from his patrol and having no supplies.

In the following days, Koivunen escaped Soviet forces once again, was injured by a land mine, and stayed in a ditch for a week, waiting for help. In the week that he was gone, he subsisted only on pine buds and a single Siberian jay that he caught and ate raw.

Having skied more than 400 km (250 mi), he was later found and admitted to a nearby hospital, where his heart rate was measured at 200 beats per minute, and he weighed only 43 kg (95 lb).

[–] terranoid@lemmy.cafe 30 points 1 day ago (1 children)

You know, I think people underestimate just how much meth might have been responsible for how fucking evil they were. Meth is a terrible fucking drug.

[–] givesomefucks@lemmy.world 23 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Not just that it was meth, it was getting people addicted and then putting them into consecutive life/death scenarios with infrequent resupplies...

Once prescribed dosage stopped working, or a soldier expected to die before the go-go juice would run out, they'd go over prescribed dosage.

If they lived, now they're out of meth

Soldiers would have been looting dead compatriots for meth, gambling, robbing, stealing, killing, anything to get the next fix.

It worked great when given to regular people for a few weeks, but wasn't sustainable.

The better plan would be giving it only to "shock troops" on the front line and having them push to exhaustion, then when they slow down, you send the next wave on fresh legs and full pockets of meth. They could have moved even faster as an army that way too, because it's just consecutive waves sprinting at full speed, rather than gradually slowing down.

Where the blitzkrieg truly failed, was being one massive wave with everyone moving at once, because by the time they got to where they were going, you were left with one big hoarde of meth zombies.

The human rights abuses wasn't the concern, it was that the hoarde would be completely unmanageable at the end of the road. Everyone alive is a meth addict who just walked thru a literal hell, and whether you keep giving them the dosage they're now used to or not, you're going to have massive problems.

Which contributed to how effective the French resistance was.

[–] scmstr@piefed.blahaj.zone 2 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Isn't there also a thing where meths makes you want to bottom?

[–] diabetic_porcupine@lemmy.world 1 points 5 hours ago

Oh fuck you’re right bet there were tons of nazi butt fucking parties

[–] avg@lemmy.zip 14 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That one dude with ADHD finally thinking clearly for the first time.

[–] EarlOfSam@quokk.au 3 points 1 day ago

Love ending the night with a little coffee and a handful of pervitin ☕😪