Podbit · Lex Fridman Podcast
Before the May 1940 invasion of France, the German military prescribed methamphetamine to its soldiers via an official 'stimulant decree,' ordering 35 million doses delivered to the front. Soldiers who had been depressed and afraid suddenly felt euphoric and unstoppable — driving tanks nonstop for 3 days and 3 nights through the Ardennes Mountains.
Where this was said
At 1:45:30 · chapter starts 1:31:06
Morell operated on the Kurfürstendamm giving injections to opera stars before premieres. He was brilliant but physically repellent — notoriously poor eating habits, difficult appearance — which paradoxically made him safe in Hitler's eyes. He was not a threat, not part of any organization, and completely dependent on Hitler's approval. Their meeting was arranged over spaghetti with nutmeg at a small dinner; Hitler complained about bloating and flatulence; Morell pitched Mutaflor — a probiotic made from the gut bacteria of one WWI soldier who survived Serbian dysentery. It worked. Hitler's bloating vanished. He became a new man. He asked Morell to be his physician; Morell accepted over his wife's objections. From 1936 to 1941, Morell's regimen was harmless: daily vitamin and glucose injections. Hitler never got sick. He exercised with resistance bands specifically to keep his arm raised during long parades. All of this was still entirely manageable — until the Soviet Union.
Hitler's famous Halt Order at Dunkirk, which allowed 300,000+ Allied troops to escape, was influenced by a morphine-high Göring convincing Hitler to let the Luftwaffe finish the job instead.
Temmler delivered 35 million doses of Pervitin (methamphetamine) to the German military before the May 1940 invasion of France.
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America secretly transferred 2,000 missiles and missile parts to Iran in 8 shipments over more than a year. Only 3 of 7 hostages were released. Three more were taken. The net result was zero freed hostages and a full-blown constitutional scandal.
On October 5, 1986, a CIA Contra supply plane flew a weapons drop at 2,500 feet in broad daylight. A Sandinista soldier shot it down. The only survivor, Eugene Hasenfuss, had borrowed a parachute from his skydiving brother. He was captured, paraded in front of cameras, and told the Sandinistas everything he knew.
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