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Subscribe now. Now, let me tell you about one of the most shocking discoveries in World War II history. When Russell Crow’s portrayal brought Herman Guring back into the spotlight, people started asking questions again. Was Hitler’s right-hand man really a drug addict? What exactly was he taking? For decades, historians debated these questions without solid proof until two explosive letters surfaced that changed everything.

 These weren’t just any documents. They were smoking gun evidence purchased at a Baltimore antique show in March 2025 by Billy Leroy, host of HBO Max’s program. The dealer who sold them had no idea what they contained. Nobody had even bothered translating them when they were auctioned in Clarence, New York, one month earlier.

 The letters that revealed everything. These letters came from a World War II veteran’s estate, likely brought back from Europe as war souvenirs. When Leroy finally translated them, he discovered something historians had chased for generations. Concrete proof of Guring’s desperate addiction. But this story doesn’t begin in some shadowy Berlin bunker.

 It starts on a Munich street corner during one of history’s most notorious failed coups. From war hero to fugitive addict. Picture this. November 9th, 1923. Herman Guring, decorated World War I flying ace and newly appointed leader of Hitler’s SA Brown Shirts, is marching alongside the future furer toward Munich’s center.

 They’re attempting to seize power, a bold, reckless gamble that would become infamous as the Beerh Hall push. At the Feld Herren Hollow Monument, 130 armed police and soldiers block their path. The narrow street erupts in gunfire. 16 Nazis fall dead. Four police officers die. Hitler barely escapes with his life, shielded by his bodyguards. Guring isn’t so lucky.

 A rifle bullet tears through his groin. While Hitler ends up in custody, Guring supporters smuggle the bleeding Nazi leader across the border into Austria. In an insbrook hospital, doctors perform emergency surgery. They pump him full of morphine to manage the excruciating pain.

 That single bullet would curse Guring for the rest of his life. The descent into darkness. After Innsbrook, Guring bounced between Venice and Rome in 1924, then returned to Sweden, unable to go home because German authorities wanted him arrested. These were the darkest years imaginable. His wife Karen battled a weak heart. Her mother was dying and goring.

 He’d transformed into a violent, unpredictable monster. The morphine from his hospital stay had awakened something terrible. He wasn’t just injured anymore, he was addicted. His behavior became so dangerous that Karen had no choice but to commit him to a psychiatric asylum. In 1925, doctors believed they’d weaned him off drugs.

They blamed his violent episodes entirely on addiction and declared him cured. They were catastrophically wrong. The desperate letters, the newly discovered letters date from May and June 1925, right at the peak of Guring’s addiction crisis. Both were addressed to a woman named Frelline Vur living at 13 Blumenstrasa in Munich.

This woman clearly had connections to Hitler himself because Guring was demanding the Fer personally intervene to get him drugs. The first letter dated May 11th and written on paper bearing the Guring family crest is chilling in its desperation. Dear Frelline, 10 days ago I sent an express letter to Pence Corfir asking him to provide medication that is not available which we urgently need.

 Pence Corfer managed the estate of Herman Ritter von Epenstein, the wealthy businessman who’d been Guring<unk>s mother’s lover and Guring<unk>s own godfather. As a child, Gearing had lived in Von Epenstein’s castles. This half-Jewish benefactor would eventually leave those same castles to his godson in 1939. A bizarre contradiction that shows how twisted Nazi ideology really was.

 But here’s what makes this letter explosive. Guring wasn’t asking for morphine. He specified exactly what he craved. Ucodel in ampules of 0.02, 2, the miracle drug that destroyed him. Most people have never heard of Ucadel. Today, we know it as Oxycodone, one of the most addictive painkillers ever created.

 Developed in 1916, Ucadel became known as the miracle drug of the 1930s. When injected intravenously, it hit within 15 minutes and provided pain relief lasting up to 6 hours. But here’s the terrifying part. Yucodal delivered roughly 1.5 times the punch of an equal dose of morphine. It didn’t just kill pain, it produced intense euphoria.

 Guring wasn’t using street drugs or simple morphine like history books often claim. He was mainlining something far more powerful and sophisticated. Once hooked, Guring’s personality transformed completely. He became listless and packed on weight. His temper shortened to a hair trigger, often exploding into physical violence. Despite multiple attempts to quit, he couldn’t break free and feeding his addiction cost a fortune.

 Remember, Guring was still working as a commercial airline pilot during this period. Think about that. A violent drug addict flying passenger planes while his family sank into desperate poverty because he was pawning their possessions to buy his next fix. The violence toward Karen escalated until she had him forcibly committed.

The second plea for help. The second letter dated June 12th, 1925 reveals even more desperation. Dear Froline, about 10 days ago, I sent something very important containing a letter for Hitler to Pence Corfir. I asked him to hand over this letter immediately to Hitler personally and to give me an immediate message about it.

Guring was practically begging. He wanted the Nazi party to supply him with Yucodadal for free. After all, he’d taken that bullet in their service. He’d bled for the cause. By September 1925, Guring sat in a hospital room wearing a straight jacket undergoing treatment that ultimately failed. The return and the switch.

After Germany granted amnesty to beerhal push participants in 1927, Guring returned home and resumed his position in the Nazi hierarchy. Records show he continued using yucodal or similar drugs as he climbed toward power and wealth. But something changed around 1930. Instead of the powerful injections that had made him psychotic, Guring switched to a milder derivative called paricodine, also known as DHC, in pill form. This shift was crucial.

 The pills didn’t produce violent cravings or psychotic episodes. Guring took them multiple times daily, maintaining a mild, constant dose. He was basically high all day, every day, but functionally so. When American forces captured him in May 1945, they found two leather suitcases in his luggage containing over 20,000 paricodine pills.

The functional addict who changed history. According to medical experts who’ve studied Guring’s case, his pill popping from early World War II through 1945 represented a crude form of opioid maintenance therapy, similar to how heroin addicts use methadone today. He was managing his addiction by taking a weaker version of his original drug.

 The pills still affected his weight. They gave him euphoria. During the down phases, he’d often fall asleep in meetings. But he was no longer the violent maniac from his Swedish asylum days. And here’s the most disturbing truth of all. According to a study in the National Library of Medicine, ultimately his history of substance abuse had no significant impact on his capabilities, ruthlessness, and leading role in Nazi crimes. Let that sink in.

Despite being constantly under the influence, Guring remained one of the most dangerous and effective architects of Nazi atrocities. He helped orchestrate the Holocaust. He commanded the Luftwafa. He built a personal art collection stolen from murdered Jews worth hundreds of millions. His addiction didn’t make him less evil.

 If anything, the drugs may have helped him function efficiently as he committed unspeakable crimes. The trial that shocked everyone. When American capttors forced Guring into sobriety at Nuremberg, they placed him on a strict diet. The transformation shocked everyone. Clean and clear-headed, Guring became the most formidable defendant at the trial.

 He didn’t show remorse. He didn’t apologize. Instead, he spent his time proudly defending his actions, justifying Nazi crimes, and expressing open contempt for the court itself. His intelligence and charisma made him dangerous even in defeat. The sober guring was arguably more frightening than the drugged version.

The truth behind the myth. These newly discovered letters prove what historians long suspected but couldn’t confirm. Herman Guring was a hardcore drug addict from 1923 onward. But his addiction wasn’t the Hollywood version we imagine. It was managed, calculated, and functional enough that he helped orchestrate some of history’s worst atrocities while high.

 The story reveals a harsh reality about evil. It doesn’t need to be sober to be effective. Garing’s addiction didn’t prevent him from rising to become the second most powerful man in Nazi Germany. It didn’t stop him from ordering death and destruction across Europe. It didn’t make him any less responsible for his monstrous crimes.

 If anything, the drugs kept him going. This is the kind of shocking historical truth you won’t find anywhere else. If you want more deep dives into the dark corners of World War II history, you need to subscribe to Army History right now. Hit that button, turn on notifications, and share this video with anyone who needs to understand the real story behind the Nazis inner circle.

 We’re just getting started uncovering evidence that rewrites what you thought you knew about history. What’s your reaction to learning Goring’s addiction didn’t stop him from committing horrific crimes? Drop your thoughts in the comments below and I’ll see you in the next investigation. Would you like me to adjust the tone to be more formal or casual or modify the call to action sections?