Attack on Sender Gleiwitz

The 'Gleiwitz incident' refers to a staged attack against a German radio station in Gleiwitz (nowadays Gliwice) on the 31st of August, 1939. German troops dressed in Polish uniforms would attack the radio station and broadcast a message urging the Polish minority in Silesia to take up arms to overthrow Adolf Hitler. This was used as an excuse by Hitler to launch an attack against Poland on the following day, thus starting the second World War.

The action, dubbed 'Operation Himmler', was directed by Alfred Helmut Naujocks under orders from Reinhard Heydrich. Furthermore, inmates from concentration camps were killed and dressed in Polish uniforms as 'proof' of the attack, as directed by Heinrich Müller, the chief of Gestapo, in what is known as 'Operation Canned Goods'.