On this day in military history…

On the evening of 31 August 1939, Europe stood only hours away from a conflict that would engulf much of the world. Adolf Hitler had already decided to invade Poland, German troops were positioned along the frontier and the opening stages of Fall Weiss – Case White – were ready to begin. What Nazi Germany still wanted, however, was a story that could present the coming invasion not as an act of aggression, but as a response to supposed Polish attacks. One of the most notorious attempts to create that story took place at a radio station near the German border town of Gleiwitz, today Gliwice in Poland.

The incident was part of a wider programme of manufactured border provocations generally known as Operation Himmler. During the weeks before the invasion, Nazi propaganda had repeatedly accused Poland of mistreating ethnic Germans and carrying out hostile acts against German territory. Behind the scenes, the SS and security services prepared incidents intended to make it appear that Polish forces were attacking Germany. Gleiwitz would become the best known of them.

Responsibility for carrying out the operation at the radio station was given to SS officer Alfred Naujocks. His later evidence at Nuremberg became one of the most important accounts of what happened. Naujocks stated that Reinhard Heydrich personally ordered him to stage an attack on the station and make it appear that the attackers were Polish. A small team was assembled and, on the evening of 31 August, moved against the transmitter facility.

The men entered the station, overpowered those present and attempted to use its broadcasting equipment. A short message in Polish was transmitted announcing that the station was in Polish hands and giving the impression that armed Polish insurgents had crossed into Germany. The broadcast itself was brief, but its purpose was far greater than the few words transmitted over the airwaves. It was intended to provide apparent evidence that Poland had initiated hostilities.

The operation contained a much darker element. Nazi planners wanted physical evidence that Polish attackers had actually been present. Franciszek Honiok, a 43-year-old Upper Silesian known for his pro-Polish sympathies, had been arrested by the Gestapo shortly beforehand. He was taken to the area of the radio station, dressed so that he could be presented as one of the supposed attackers and killed. His body was left behind as manufactured evidence of Polish involvement. Honiok is therefore sometimes described as one of the first victims of the Second World War, although the wider war had not yet officially begun.

Other staged incidents were taking place around the German-Polish frontier at approximately the same time. The Nazis referred cynically to murdered prisoners used as evidence during some of these operations as “Konserve” – canned goods. Bodies could be dressed in Polish uniforms and left at staged attack sites, allowing German authorities and propaganda organisations to present photographs and reports of supposedly fallen Polish aggressors. Gleiwitz was therefore not an isolated act but part of a coordinated attempt to manufacture the appearance of Polish aggression.

The timing was crucial. German forces were already preparing to cross the Polish frontier. Only hours after the Gleiwitz operation, during the early morning of 1 September 1939, German troops attacked Poland from several directions while Luftwaffe aircraft struck Polish targets. Hitler appeared before the Reichstag that morning and claimed that Germany was responding to Polish provocations and border attacks. The invasion had not been caused by Gleiwitz; it had been planned well in advance. The incident was instead designed to help provide propaganda justification for a war Germany had already decided to begin.

The deception achieved little in convincing foreign governments. Britain and France understood that Germany was the aggressor and had previously given guarantees to Poland. When Germany refused demands to withdraw its forces, Britain and France declared war on Germany on 3 September. What Hitler had hoped might remain another limited European conquest instead developed into the beginning of the Second World War in Europe.

The full story of Gleiwitz emerged more clearly after Germany's defeat. Naujocks was questioned by Allied investigators and provided evidence describing his orders and the staged attack. His testimony was presented during the Nuremberg proceedings, providing remarkable first-hand evidence of the methods used by the Nazi leadership to create artificial justification for aggression.

Today the radio tower at Gliwice still survives. The tall wooden transmitting structure has become a physical reminder of the events of 31 August 1939 and of how propaganda, deception and carefully manufactured incidents can be used in preparation for war. The attack itself lasted only a short time and involved only a handful of men, yet it occurred on one of the most significant nights of the twentieth century.

Within hours, German forces were moving into Poland. Within days, Britain and France were at war with Germany. Over the following six years tens of millions would die across Europe, Africa and Asia. The shots and false broadcast at Gleiwitz did not cause the Second World War, but they remain one of its most chilling opening episodes: a deliberate attempt to manufacture an enemy attack so that an already planned invasion could be presented to the world as an act of defence.