Internal Assessment
RQ: Did Adolf Hitler suffer from
Amphetamine addiction?
Exam Session: May 2018
Section 1: Identification and Evaluation of sources
The focus of this investigation is “Did Adolf Hitler suffer from Amphetamine addiction?”.
The primary sources, ‘Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany’ by
Norman Ohler and ‘The secret diaries of Hitler’s Doctor’ by David Irving are relevant to this investigation due to the insight they offer into the private life of Adolf Hitler. Together, these sources offer both objective and subjective views on his drug consumption.
David Irving providing the former in form of facts and concrete evidence, while Normal Ohler offers a “popular history” approach to the latter[1].
Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print. (for reference: Source A)
Of particular importance to this
investigation. A study of Adolf Hitler’s physical and psychological
constitution consisting of Theodor Morell’s diaries, abridged by explanatory
passages by David Irving. Recovered from a classified medical library in
Washington DC in 1981[2].
Morell’s diaries provide an intimate
glimpse into Hitler’s personal life from the perspective of his trusted friend from
their first meeting in 1936 onwards until the last days of the Battle of Berlin
in 1945. As the diaries were never intended to be published, one can assume the
medical records to be of a more candid and revealing nature. Additionally, the medical
information recorded by Dr. Morell is purely factual. Irving uses a variety of
other physicians’ records to ensure multiple views being expressed. US Captain
Walter H. Gruendl’s interrogation of Morell states that “Dr. Morell’s memory
was genuinely shaky”[3].
This limits the source as it is uncertain whether Morell’s records were written
daily or from memory. In addition, these records are inevitably molded by the
opinions of those surrounding Morell. Similarly, Irving’s explanatory passages
are biased by his own cultural prejudices, calling for them to be read
critically. It is not definite whether the diaries are complete, as they were
lost for 30 years. Morell’s diaries are, to the average reader, written
cryptically. Terms such as “Vitamultin” and “Medication X” replace medical
terminology. Irving was left to speculate upon the precise contents of said
substances, despite his claim that “the medical picture of Adolf Hitler is now
complete, there is no longer room for speculation”[4].
It is also essential to say that David Irving was put on trial for historical
revisionism in the context of Hitler, lessening his credibility as a source. As
the original Morell Diaries were translated from German to English, the
possibility exists for information to be mistranslated, accidentally or
deliberately.
Ohler,
Norman, and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich.
2017. Print.
(for
reference: Source B)
A novelistic account of the presence
of narcotics in the Nazi German high command, military, economy and population.
Comprises unpublished documents from German and American federal archives
complemented by interviews with contemporary witnesses and military historians.
Ohler describes substance abuse as a “blind spot”[5]
in the literature on Hitler. The source’s information is not unique; its value lies in the manner in which it is laid out. It employs a skewed perspective,
providing a focused, personal portrait of the spirit and culture of the time. Blitzed offers subjective views allowing
the reader to follow Ohler’s inferences based on circumstantial evidence and
recast their previous knowledge on the topic. This source is flawed in the sense that Norman Ohler is a novelist, not a historian. The degree of literary pageantry used limits the source as it is not
concerned with providing a factual account. Ohler is accused of exaggerating throughout Blitzed. Richard J Evans calls it a
“spurious
interpretation[…]
of the evidence”[6]. The
amount of relevant information is limited as Ohler dedicates merely one chapter
of the book to Hitler himself. This however allows Ohler to contextualize
Hitler’s life through recounting the social and economic situation in Germany,
especially in regard to narcotics.
Word count: 638
Section 2: Investigation
Hitler, long before his rise to power, was obsessed with his physical and mental health; a hypochondriac whose body began to fail him as early as August 1941. He admittedly believed himself to be incapable of living without constant medical attention. Countless doctors treated the Führer, senior among them was Theodor Morell, his personal physician. As the condition of his heart, his deteriorating eyesight and the tremor in his left hand worsened, Hitler became gradually more dependent on the treatment of his Doktorchen – his ‘little doctor’, Morell. In the crucial years of the war, 1941 to 1945, Morell treated Hitler more or less on a daily basis. 885 of 1,349 days are accounted for in his diaries, Medication was recorded 1,100 times as well as approximately 800 injections. These medical findings alone are inconclusive regarding amphetamine use. An eyewitness report from Hitler’s valet, Heinz Linge, approximates a description of the immediate effects of stimulant drugs. When asked what happened to Hitler after his morning “Vitamultin” injection from Morell, Linge described him as “immediately alert […] while the needle was still in the arm”. In the Medical Casebook of Adolf Hitler Leonard Heston states that “At that time in Germany only two substances were that effective – pervitin (methamphetamine) and cocaine”. Despite these statements, there is no mention of Pervitin in source A’s appendix, where all 74 substances administered to Hitler are recorded. From the differing information in sources the questions arise whether Morell’s mysterious substance indeed contained Methamphetamine, and if so, whether it was in a sufficient concentration to render Hitler addicted.
Morell kept the composition of his
“Vitamultin” secret, insisting on it being a mixture of vitamins and glucose
solution[12].
As Morell was not well-liked in Hitler’s inner circle due to his poor personal
hygiene and unorthodox treatment methods, Heinrich Himmler secretly ordered
SS-physician Ernst-Günther Schenck to investigate its contents. Schenck,
allegedly, found Morell’s golden, foil wrapped “Vitamultin” to contain the
insisted upon vitamins, as well as Pervitin and Koffein[13].
Hitler’s close relationship with Morell discredits these findings. An
overweight, unhygienic “quack”[14]
having Hitler’s unquestioning trust, inevitably spawned jealousy within
Hitler’s inner circle, Himmler included. When he remarked on Morell’s body
odour, Hitler snapped: “I don’t employ Morell for his fragrance but to look
after my health”[15].
This envy went as far as Morell being accused of poisoning Hitler and being an
Allied spy. When this concern was presented to Hitler by Dr. Karl Brandt and
Dr. Hanskarl von Hasselbach, Hitler fired them and kept Morell[16]. Irving makes the case that Morell’s rivals
potentially used falsified information about Pervitin in “Vitamultin” to have
Morell investigated by the Gestapo and removed from Hitler’s side. This
argument is particularly strong as Morell had no reason to exclude mention of
Pervitin in his painstakingly detailed diaries, as Morell even occasionally
stuck the needles, used to inject Hitler, to his notes[17].
Aware of the dangers of being a dictator’s personal physician, Morell kept
these meticulous records to present to the Gestapo in the case of Hitler’s
untimely demise. Excluding important information such as the contents of his
injections would have had fatal consequences for Morell.
Assuming the validity of this theory, and that Morell did not administer
Pervitin, how then did he manage to revitalize Hitler in mentally and physically
straining situations between August 1941, Operation Barbarossa, and 1945,
Hitler’s suicide? To answer this, it is essential to discern where the ‘Patient
A’ spent most of his time during said period; Hitler’s first Eastern front
military headquarters, the “Wolfsschanze”[18].
From here he would direct ‘Operation Barbarossa’[19]. Protected by mines in a ring 150m wide,
enclosed in 2 metres of concrete and home to 2,000 officers and private
soldiers, the Wolfsschanze embodies of Hitler’s hypochondria. Morell supplied
Hitler’s bunker with oxygen for “inhalation and release into the bedroom”. Hitler’s response recorded by Morell; “Führer
very content, one might even say
enthusiastic” [20].
Ohler makes this ‘The Bunker Mentality’ case to justify the source of Hitler’s
energy. Blood doping, or inhaling air with a higher oxygen concentration is a
method by which athletes can enhance their physical performance[21].
An artificial oxygen supply, paired with frequent “glucose injections”[22],
“Vitamultin” vitamins, Glyconorm[23],
and countless other metabolic enhancements, could explain Hitler’s
“immediate[…] alertn[ess]”, as described by his valet[24].
Infrequently, these concoctions would have no tangible effect, albeit, Morell’s
entry from the October 30th 1944 reveals the sheer dimensions of
these injections. Morell is summoned to Hitler’s side; he makes up a combined
Eukodal and Eupaverin injection but “administering it was not easy because of
the many needle scars”, he “again drew attention to the need to give the veins
a rest for a while”[25].
Though Irving states that it is “unlikely” that the Vitamultin shots contained
Pervitin, Hitler’s insistence on being injected against Morell’s advice reveals
that he was abjectly dependent to Morell’s treatment.
A testimony by Ernst-Günther Schenck allows for Hitler’s dependency on
Morell’s medication to be compared to the habit of smoking. Though Hitler did
not smoke[26],
studies show that often smokers aren’t as much addicted to nicotine as to the act
of holding and smoking a cigarette[27].
“Morell proceeded ultra-cautiously in his usage of drugs, […] he never
administered more than one-third and often less than one quarter of the normal
dose”[28].
A statement issued by the same man who, again, allegedly, found Vitamultin to
contain Pervitin at the behest of Heinrich Himmler. From this it can be
concluded that Hitler was more addicted to the relief of feeling Morell’s
needle puncturing his skin, than to the effects of the substances, as on more
than one occasion Hitler had his private train stopped for Morell to inject
accurately. Such a dependency is a result of the placebo effect[29].
Further confirming the relevance of the placebo effect in Hitler’s dependency,
Schenck continues to say that “any effect must have been more imaginary than
real”[30].
Assuming Schenck indeed found Pervitin in Vitamultin, judging by said
testimony, it must have been in minute quantities. It is unlikely that an
amphetamine addiction ensued from microdoses of the substance Pervitin, a
substance far less potent than ‘crystal meth’ dealt today.
Despite common beliefs pedaled by
arguably revisionist films such as High
Hitler and even the cover of Blitzed,
depicting Hitler with protruding eyes and an overall intoxicated facial
expression, Adolf Hitler was not addicted to any form of amphetamine. Albeit,
he did have a substance abuse issue. Hitler took “a pill for every ill”
replacing his immune system with unpredictable, often counterproductive drug
cocktails synthesized by his Doktorchen.
Hitler’s temperament, choleric behaviour and megalomaniacal fantasies can be
attributed to no substance but that of his own madness.
Word count: 1128
Section 3: Reflection
Science
in history is always subject to change over time. With rapid technological advancements
in society, more accurate scientific methods are discovered daily, discrediting
older ones. Diagnoses in the past are therefore less accurate and less viable
as source material.
When
I visited the institute of contemporary history to see David Irving’s
collection of sources for his book The
Secret Diaries of Hitler’s Doctor, my primary source, I was denied access
without written parental permission. After overcoming this legal barrier, the
next day, I encountered another. Morell’s medical records were
incomprehensible. I was met with a disarray of loose pages, binders and cards
and enigmatic handwriting. I was later informed that this was only a fraction
of the complete diaries, and that the rest were in Washington DC. This taught
me the necessity of attention to detail when conducting a historical
investigation. Medical records alone are inconclusive, minute details such as
Hitler’s posture, hand movements and diet seem insignificant, yet largely
contribute to the belief that Hitler had Parkinson’s. This has revealed to me
how History and Science work together. One is objective, the other subjective,
but both give meaning to one another. Simply stating facts is not enough, a
historian and a scientist both interpret and evaluate making seemingly minute
details significant. These challenges I faced allowed me insight into the
tedious processes behind historiography and different perspectives in History.
History
is not uniform like mathematics or science. History is different views
expressed based on the same facts.
Word count: 249
Works cited:
Primary
Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print.
Ohler, Norman,
and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed: Drugs in the Third Reich. 2017.
Print.
Secondary
Hans
Mommsen (5 November 2015). "Unbequemer Blick auf die NS-Zeit". Frankfurter
Rundschau. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
Evans, Richard J. “Blitzed: Drugs in Nazi Germany by Norman
Ohler review – a crass and dangerously inaccurate account.” The
Guardian, Guardian News and Media,
16 Nov. 2016, www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/16/blitzed-drugs-in-nazi-germany-by-norman-ohler-review.
"Effects of
Amphetamine Abuse." Narconon International. Narconon
International, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2017.
Heston,
Leonard L. The Medical Casebook of Adolf Hitler: His Illnesses, Doctors, and
Amphetamine Abuse. New York: Universe, 2007. Print, 4
BArch-Koblenz
N1348, Morell entry, 9 August 1943. (Accessed at Institute for Contemporary
History, Munich, 12 Feb. 2018)
Joyner,
MJ (Jun 2003). "VO2MAX, blood
doping, and erythropoietin". British journal of sports medicine.
Pdf.
Hainer,
Dr. Ray. “ Smokers: Addicted or just dabbling?”, 10 Sept. 2008, www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20213458,00.html.
Schenck,
Ernst-Günther. Patient Hitler, Augsburg
2000.
Neumayr,
Prof. Anton. Dictators: In the Mirror of
Medicine, 1995,
Hutton,
Dr. Thomas, High Hitler. Dir. Andy Webb. History Channel, 2004. DVD.
"Placebo
effect." Britannica
School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 20 Mar.
2015. school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/placebo-effect/489919.
Accessed 18 Feb. 2018.
[1] Hans Mommsen (5 November
2015). "Unbequemer Blick auf die
NS-Zeit". Frankfurter
Rundschau. Retrieved 8
February 2018.
[2] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 13
[3] Ibid, 12
[4] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 12
[5] Ohler, Norman, and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed:
Drugs in the Third Reich. 2017. Print, 127
[6] Evans, Richard J. “Blitzed: Drugs in
Nazi Germany by Norman Ohler review – a crass and dangerously inaccurate
account.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 16 Nov. 2016,
www.theguardian.com/books/2016/nov/16/blitzed-drugs-in-nazi-germany-by-norman-ohler-review.
[7] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 17
[8] Ohler, Norman, and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed:
Drugs in the Third Reich. 2017. Print, 132
[9] "Effects of Amphetamine Abuse." Narconon
International. Narconon International, n.d. Web. 10 Sept. 2017.
[10] High Hitler. Dir. Andy Webb. History
Channel, 2004. DVD.
[11] Heston, Leonard L. The Medical
Casebook of Adolf Hitler: His Illnesses, Doctors, and Amphetamine Abuse.
New York: Universe, 2007. Pint, 4
[12] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 15
[13] Schenck, Ernst-Günther. Patient Hitler, Augsburg 2000, p. 389
[14] Neumayr, Prof. Anton. Dictators: In the Mirror of Medicine, 1995,
p. 189
[15] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 170
[16] Hutton, Dr. Thomas, High Hitler. Dir. Andy Webb. History
Channel, 2004. DVD.
[17] Ohler, Norman, and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed:
Drugs in the Third Reich. 2017. Print, 132
[18] “Wolfsschanze”; German for “Wolf’s
lair”
[19] Ohler, Norman, and Shaun Whiteside. Blitzed:
Drugs in the Third Reich. 2017. Print, 141.
[20] BArch-Koblenz N1348, Morell entry, 9
August 1943. (Accessed at Institute for Contemporary History, Munich, 12 Feb.
2018)
[21] Joyner, MJ (Jun 2003). "VO2MAX,
blood doping, and erythropoietin". British
journal of sports medicine. Pdf. 37
[22] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 23
[23] Contains metabolic ferments, vitamins,
amino acids, histidine and a cocktail of extracts of suprarenal and pancreatic
glands.
[24] High Hitler. Dir. Andy Webb. History
Channel, 2004. DVD.
[25] Ibid, 63
[26] Ibid, 17
[27] Hainer, Dr. Ray. “Smokers: Addicted or just
dabbling?” Health.com, 10 Sept. 2008,
www.health.com/health/condition-article/0,,20213458,00.html.
[28] Morell, Theodor G, and David J. C. Irving. The Secret Diaries of Hitler's Doctor. New York: Macmillan, 1983. Print, 68
[29] "Placebo effect." Britannica School,
Encyclopædia Britannica, 20 Mar. 2015. school.eb.co.uk/levels/advanced/article/placebo-effect/489919. Accessed 18 Feb. 2018.
[30] Ibid
