Nazis Dosed Soldiers with Performance-Boosting 'Superdrug'.

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American mortar crew in action near the Rhine, 1945.
Credit: Thirteen Productions LLC
▼ The remarkable endurance of German and Allied soldiers during World War II had a secret ingredient: performance-enhancing drugs.
During the 1940s, Nazi troops were liberally supplied with a methamphetamine called Pervitin, while American and British soldiers stayed alert with the help of the amphetamine Benzedrine.
Medical officers on both sides distributed these stimulants — and others, such as cocaine — to keep weary soldiers awake for days at a time; to enable troops to perform longer under punishing conditions; and to deaden the horrific and debilitating effects of shell shock and post-traumatic stress  disorder(PTSD), according to "Secrets of the Dead: World War Speed," a new documentary airing today (June 25) on PBS.
As this officially sanctioned "pharmaceutical arms race" unfolded, soldiers who took these drugs were pushed beyond the limits of their normal capabilities; but the long-term impacts of drug use were largely ignored by military medical officials, PBS representatives said in a statement.
Amphetamines(a group of stimulants that includes methamphetamines) affect the central nervous system, according to the National Institutes of Health(NIH). They induce a sense of euphoria, increase alertness and decrease appetite, the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) reported. For methamphetamines, more of the drug in a single dose directly floods the brain, compared with other amphetamines, meaning they are longer-lasting and are potentially more harmful to the central nervous system, according to NIDA.
"Drugged, fearless and berserk" (▪ ▪ ▪)

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