The article recounts the author's grandmother's experience with radioactive toothpaste called Doramad, created by her father, a chemist. After fleeing Germany in 1935, the family took their toothpaste, which emitted alpha particles, with them. Doramad became the preferred toothpaste of the German army, used by troops during the war. Despite the dark history surrounding the product, the author attempts to connect with her grandmother's past but faces resistance, as the grandmother feels the author isn't ready to uncover the painful truths of their shared history.
Under the brand name Doramad, it promised gums charged with new life energy and a smile blindingly white.
When they were forced to leave Germany in 1935, they took tubes of it with them, their suitcases gently emitting alpha particles as they travelled a thousand miles east.
A branch factory in occupied Czechoslovakia ensured that the troops pushing eastwards...could do so with radiant teeth.
She let me know that I was not ready. Whatever questions I asked were not the right ones.
Collection
[
|
...
]