In the 1940s, German expansionist missions over Belgium and France were raging. Moreover, the growth of the German military made Belgium alarmed. So on the Belgian-German border on the east side a magnificent fort was built, with bunkers and tunnels reaching 5 miles in length and below the ground depth of approximately 20 meters. The fort can accommodate 1500 Belgian troops at once. That is what we are familiar with the fortress of Eden Emael. Not only was the German military development at that time as the cause, based on history, when the first world war Belgium was occupied by Germany via Eden Emael as well, the eastern border of the two countries.
For Hitler, reoccupying Belgium meant breaking the superiority of fortress. But with the usual and standard attack style, of course, Germany will be overwhelmed, maybe even lost. Especially after the Versailes agreement, Germany was not permitted to have the large scale of air force and aircraft. Because of the agreement, Germany finally developed a type of glider that was rumored to be noiseless and suitable for sudden attacks with small numbers of troops.
Why? Because glider was not included in the type of aircraft that was prohibited in the Versailes agreement. In addition, Germany was also developing concave bombs, a kind of bombs that have targeted explosive power, only to hit certain targets, especially targets in the form of bunkers and underground fortresses. Air pressure caused by concave bombs will shake enemy bunkers from below, not from above. By placing concave bomb in one of the gaps in the bunker, the pressure will go through all the rooms in the bunker, then hit the cannon gun at the top of the bunker.
With the discovery of that technology, the Germans decided to attack the fortress of Eden Emael with special forces totaling 86 people. The decision was in accordance with the new war strategy set by Hitler, namely rapid occupation or what we commonly know as the Bliztkrieg. The time of the attack was determined at around 4am. When the operation came, German glider landed around the fortress of Emael carrying 86 German special forces. The number was clearly out of balance with Belgian soldiers who were waiting for them inside the fort, which were approximately 750 soldiers.
Not a long wait, all Nazi special forces took positions around the fortress, searching for entrances and installing concave bombs. The explosion of several concave bombs damaged many sides of the fort from the inside, because if the concave bomb exploded, the air pressure caused by them would bounce off one another from the walls of the fort, towards the holes that flowed air out, especially the holes which became the cannon position.
The sudden attack really surprised the Belgian. But because of the much larger number, Belgium finally put up a fight. But what a bitch, Belgium was beyond help. With the ruins of the fortress of Eden Emael due to surprise attack, then the help of the imminent German troops, the Fortress of Emael Eden had to bow down to the Nazis in only 28 hours. And Germany got a strategic starting point for occupying Belgium as a whole and entering France.
However, if seen more broadly, the German effort to enter Belgium by breaking the superiority of the Fortress of Emael was only camflation. The victory was truly celebrated by Berlin, videos of the victory at the fortress of Eden Emael were distributed. Everything was to cover the true intention of Germany, namely occupying Paris, France. Sure enough, shortly after the conquest of the Fortress of Emael, Germany finally conquered France, via a path that was never expected by all parties, namely through the dense forest of the Ardennes, which became a barrier between Germany and France.
German troops made it through the dense forest on foot, with a journey of more than 170 km in more than two weeks. Even more interesting, it turns out that the number of French and Belgian troops at that time was somewhat greater than the troops sent down by Hitler. Amazingly, after a long, tiring, sleepless journey, they were able to conquer opponents whose resting patterns would be far better. Why? The answer was in the Pervitin Pill.
Pervitin Pills are another language of Crystal Met. In 1938s, the pharmaceutical company Themmler was licensed to produce the Pervitin trademark. The packaging was very similar to the packaging of one of the multivitamins sold, in the form of a long can of small pills containing several pills. Pervitin was sold as an antidepressant. Initially, the initial inventors who later became the Pervitin pill were two Japanese researchers studying in Berlin. They found the crystal meth. After that, Themmler got permission to produce and sell it throughout Germany.
Pervitin finally attracted the attention of Doctor Otto Angke, doctor and medical scientist in the German military. Otto then tested 90 selected students. The conclusion was that the use of Pervitin would provide chemical benefits for the fighting endurance of German army. Soldiers will keep fighting without sleep for days, even welcoming the war very hysterically. Then Otto Angke’s trial results were immediately brought into the Fuhrer’s room, then approved. When Germany occupied France via the Ardennese Dense Forest, or overthrew Eden Emael, or when Hitler’s expansionist desire to conquer Europe began, there were 35 million Pervitin pills used. Hitler himself could not be ascertained to consume pervitin or not, but according to medical records from Hitler’s personal psychiatrist, Dr. Theodor Morell, Hitler was even injected 800 times a year with various drugs, including opium, ampethamines, cocaine, and other drugs.
From the allies side, it was actually not much different. After the French conquest of Germany, Churchil’s personal physician discovered the fact that German troops used Pervitin and advised Churchil to use the same thing. But it seems that Churchil was very careful with methamphetamine because of its very dangerous long-term effects. Finally, it was known that British troops only use in very low doses, even for fighter pilots who experience aircraft downfall in order to survive a few days before being discovered. The drug was called BenzedrinSulfate, a low-dose methamphetamine.
When Hitler decided to conquer Russia, known as Operation Barbarosa, the use of Pervitin could not be separated from the war. In addition to deploying all its secret weapons, the use of pervitin was also increasingly massive. So the news about the effect was also spreading. Many troops were very addicted, hysterical, paranoid, and lost their temper. Pervitin might be one of the reasons why German troops were so cruel.
There were rumors among German soldiers that there was a German army unit struggling to approach Moscow, going crazy, shooting in any direction, even one army shooting his own commander, before finally surrendering at the hands of the Stalin red army. Then towards the end of the barbarosa operation, when the Germans lost their way and were beaten back by the red army, according to the notes of one of the doctors who participated in the combat unit, there was one unit that retreated back to Germany and was trapped in very heavy snow, under 30 degrees Celsius. They were exhausted, and were prepared to surrender or die from the cold snow. But finally the commander gave pervitin. 30 minutes later they were ready to walk again and were declared safe until returning to Germany.
The failure of the barbarosa “biltzkrieg” operation became the beginning of the defeat of Germany in the second world war. But Hitler chosed to stay with his fantasy of wanting to establish a Nazi empire on the plains of Europe. In 1944, a new research was launched and gave birth to a more dangerous new variant of the drug, called D-IX, chemical support level nine. D-IX consisted of nine ingredients. Three of the dominant ones werepervitin, cocaine, and morphine.
Concentration camps became test sites. Jewish prisoners became guinea pigs for these drugs. But Germany was beyond help, the allies had freed France, and were ready to enter Germany from the North. And the Russians were already furious, preparing to ravage Germany from the East side. In a bunker in Berlin, based on conventional historical records, after fulfilling his last promise to Eva Braun, a girlfriend who had never been married, namely to marry Eva Braun, Hitler finally decided to shoot himself. While Eva Braun has preceded him by swallowing cyanide pills.