Norman Ohler - Delírio Total

A meticulous investigation that exposes a surprising perspective on World War II: Nazi Germany's high drug dependency.

The Nazi regime preached an ideology of physical, mental, and moral purity. But, as Norman Ohler reveals in this compelling story based on previously unpublished sources, the Third Reich was saturated with drugs: cocaine, opiates, and above all, methamphetamines, used by everyone—from factory workers to housewives—and vital to the troops' resistance, explaining, in part, the rapid advance and German victory in 1940. The promiscuous use of drugs, even at the highest levels, also affected decision-making, with Hitler and his entourage taking refuge in cocktails of potentially lethal stimulants, administered by the physician Theo Morell, unable to reverse the course of the war, which was turning against Germany.

Although drugs alone cannot explain the toxic racial theories of the Nazis or the events of World War II, this discovery leads us to see war crimes against humanity in a new light. "Total Delirium" is, therefore, a crucial piece for understanding world history.