On this day in military history…
On the evening of August 31, 1939, in the quiet border town of Gleiwitz, Germany, an event unfolded that would soon be cited as the justification for a global conflict. The incident involved an attack on a German radio station and was carefully orchestrated by the Nazi regime to appear as an act of Polish aggression. Known as the Gleiwitz Incident, this false flag operation was part of a broader plan called Operation Himmler, designed to fabricate a series of provocations that could be used to legitimize Germany’s imminent invasion of Poland.
Tensions in Europe had been escalating for months. Adolf Hitler was determined to seize Polish territory and reverse the perceived injustices of the Treaty of Versailles, particularly Germany’s loss of land to Poland after World War I. However, he was conscious of international opinion, particularly from Britain and France, who had pledged to defend Polish sovereignty. To sway both domestic and foreign audiences, the Nazi leadership devised a plan to stage fake Polish attacks along the German border, thereby portraying Germany as a victim of unprovoked hostilities.
The most infamous of these staged provocations occurred at the Gleiwitz radio station, situated close to the Polish border. The operation was led by SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks, acting on direct orders from Reinhard Heydrich, one of the principal architects of Nazi internal security and intelligence operations. According to post-war testimony, Naujocks and a group of SS operatives donned Polish military uniforms, stormed the radio station in the evening, and briefly took control of the broadcast. During the hijacked transmission, they issued a short anti-German message in Polish, calling for resistance and action against Germany. Although the broadcast was minimal and likely heard by very few people, it served the intended symbolic purpose.
To further the illusion, the attackers left behind the body of a man dressed in a Polish uniform. The man was Franciszek Honiok, a Silesian of Polish sympathies who had been arrested by the Gestapo a day earlier. He was chosen specifically for his ethnic background and political leanings. Honiok was killed, likely by lethal injection or gunshot, and his body was presented as that of a fallen Polish saboteur. He became one of the first casualties of World War II, murdered not in battle, but in a manufactured incident meant to deceive the world.
In addition to the Gleiwitz raid, similar false flag attacks were carried out that same night at several locations along the border, including a customs station and railway infrastructure. Each was carefully staged to mimic a coordinated Polish offensive. These incidents formed the narrative Hitler presented to the German people and the international community on September 1, 1939, when he announced that Germany had been forced to respond to repeated Polish provocations. That same morning, German forces launched a full-scale invasion of Poland.
The international response was swift. Britain and France, bound by mutual defense pacts with Poland, issued ultimatums to Germany. When these were ignored, they declared war on Germany on September 3, marking the official start of World War II. Though the Nazi regime worked tirelessly to shape the narrative, the transparent nature of the Gleiwitz Incident and the other staged operations failed to convince much of the world.
In the postwar years, during the Nuremberg Trials, Alfred Naujocks testified in detail about his role in the incident, offering one of the clearest accounts of how the operation was conducted. His testimony revealed the meticulous planning and cold-blooded execution that characterized much of the Nazi leadership’s approach to propaganda and war. The Gleiwitz Incident has since become a classic example of a false flag operation, a manufactured act of violence used to justify aggression under the guise of self-defense.
Today, the Gleiwitz Incident stands as a chilling reminder of how easily truth can be manipulated and how propaganda can be weaponized to incite war. It underscores the importance of skepticism, transparency, and historical accountability, especially in times of rising political tension. While the radio tower in Gliwice still stands, its role in igniting one of history’s most devastating conflicts ensures that it remains not just a relic of communication, but a monument to the dangers of deceit in the service of conquest.
