Norman Ohler

But it would only work if you would reach Sedan, the border city of France, within three days and three nights.

So the whole army, or at least the avant-garde of the machinery, had to be like a big part of the army, had to be in Sedan after three days and three nights.

And that was only possible if you don't stop.

And that was the problem.

The sleep really then suddenly became a huge problem.

And Hitler said,

When I was fighting in World War I, of course I could stay awake for a week.

I'm a German.

Even though he's not even German, he's Austrian.

But that was a problem.

But suddenly Ranke realized that his moment had come because he had the recipe how people could stay awake for three days and three nights.

So Ranke suddenly became, before that he was kind of an outsider, like the freak with the drug idea.

Suddenly he became like, okay, tell us, how does it work?

And he gave lectures in front of the officers, and he wrote a stimulant decree where a whole army is prescribed a drug, in this case methamphetamine, how much should be taken at what intervals, what are the side effects.

So this became a very big thing.

And then Temla had to deliver 35 million dosages to the front lines, which were not the front yet.

I mean, they were stationed in the west,

of Germany.

And then on May 10th, they took their methamphetamine and they started the surprise attack through the Ardennes Mountains.

It was brilliant up until that point.