Strange Associations

About the Book

In 1964, I had the opportunity to share several luncheons with the Polish inventor of a chemical that had an unusual configuration and that targeted the site of action in the human brain, the limbic system. This chemical, which was stolen by Hitler’s men and used as a secret weapon at the start of World War II while the supply lasted, was an antifear drug. This started a chase to find, kill, or capture the inventor at a time when he lost his assistant and fiancée, the daughter of a prominent Jewish family, to capture by the Nazis while she was trying to find them in the Warsaw ghetto. A Swiss national, and therefore a neutral person, helped him with the search as a representative of a large Swiss pharmaceutical research company, but he never saw his lost love again. While searching the Warsaw ghetto, he was able to help the inhabitants and witness their prosecution as well as aid them with pharmaceuticals. I promised to tell the world his story someday.

About the Author

John M. Hill, a very healthy seventy-eight-year-old, was born in Springhill, Nova Scotia, Canada, and grew up with Anne Murray’s (singer) oldest brother. He practiced pharmacy there then moved to Halifax to further studies in pharmacy and pharmacology. He joined Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., the Canadian subsidiary, in 1960. His major hobbies were music (reed, play sax, and some piano) and writing articles, papers, and political notes and petitions. Roche underwrote much postgraduate training, courses, etc. in pharmacology, psychology, and sociology, including sexology, giving me background to discuss medicine with MDs, specialists, and researchers. During a training and launch session for Valium, now a common tranquilizer, its inventor told him his story, to be kept secret for 50 years. Now it must be told. John M. Hill