Operation Himmler / Gleiwitz Incident (Aug 31 1939)
Introduction
In the early hours of 31 August 1939, a group of SS men dressed in Polish uniforms seized the German radio station at Gleiwitz — a border town now known as Gliwice in modern Poland — broadcast a brief anti-German message in Polish, and left several dead bodies at the scene. The following morning, Adolf Hitler cited the attack in his Reichstag address as proof of Polish aggression against Germany, using it as justification for the military invasion he launched at 4:45 a.m. that same day.
This was not a spontaneous act of Polish hostility. It was a carefully staged false-flag operation, codenamed Operation Himmler and conceived by Reinhard Heydrich, head of the SS Security Service (SD). The Gleiwitz attack was the most visible component of a coordinated series of staged border incidents designed to manufacture a casus belli for a war Germany had already decided to fight.
The Operation
SS Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks commanded the Gleiwitz team. His account, delivered under oath to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1945 (Document PS-2751), remains the primary documentary basis for what occurred. Naujocks stated that he received orders directly from Heydrich: seize the radio station, broadcast a short message implying Polish attack, and leave bodies at the scene to support the staged narrative.
The bodies were provided through a mechanism of particular horror. Concentration camp prisoners — referred to in internal SS communications by the callous codename "Konserve" (canned goods) — were dressed in Polish military uniforms and killed at or near the scene. Franciszek Honiok, a local Silesian man known for his pro-Polish sympathies, was also killed and left at the Gleiwitz station specifically to serve as apparent evidence of a Polish attacker.
The Wider Operation Himmler
The Gleiwitz attack was the most prominent of approximately a dozen staged incidents planned under the broader Operation Himmler framework. Two others that proceeded were an attack on the Hochlinden (Stodoły) customs post and an incident at the Pitschen (Byczyna) forest service station. Together these incidents were presented by Nazi propaganda as a pattern of Polish aggression requiring German military response.
The Pretext for World War II
On 1 September 1939, Hitler addressed the Reichstag and German radio audiences, citing Polish attacks on German territory as the reason for the military response underway. The manufactured incidents at Gleiwitz and elsewhere were the evidentiary basis — such as it was — for this claim. The invasion of Poland that followed triggered the British and French declarations of war that began the Second World War.
Naujocks and the Nuremberg Affidavit
Alfred Naujocks was captured by Allied forces in 1944 and surrendered to American forces in October 1944. In 1945 he provided an affidavit to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (PS-2751) in which he described in detail the planning and execution of the Gleiwitz operation on Heydrich''s orders. Naujocks''s affidavit is the sole surviving first-hand direct testimony from an operational participant. Heydrich was assassinated in Prague in 1942; Heinrich Müller of the Gestapo, also involved, disappeared in 1945. Naujocks himself was not ultimately tried at Nuremberg, and he later escaped Allied custody.
Evidentiary Status
The Gleiwitz incident is among the most thoroughly documented false-flag operations in modern history. The Naujocks affidavit, contemporaneous German military and diplomatic records, Polish forensic investigations at the site after the war, and the physical evidence of the staged scene collectively establish the event beyond reasonable doubt. Post-war access to Nazi archives, including internal SS communications referencing "Konserve," reinforced the Nuremberg testimony.
Legacy
The Gleiwitz incident has become a paradigmatic example of a state-manufactured pretext for war. It is studied in military history, international law, and media analysis as a case study in how false-flag operations function: manufacture an incident, control the immediate narrative, and use it to legitimise action already decided upon. Its confirmation through multiple independent documentary sources makes it one of the rare conspiracy-theory-adjacent events that is not a theory at all — it is documented history.
Verdict
Confirmed. The false-flag nature of the Gleiwitz attack is established by the Naujocks affidavit (PS-2751), corroborated by German military records, post-war forensic findings, and internal SS documents. The operation was a deliberate fabrication designed to justify an invasion already planned. The verdict here is not "conspiracy theory debunked" — it is confirmation that the conspiracy was real and state-sponsored.
Evidence Filters10
Naujocks affidavit (PS-2751) — direct first-hand testimony
SupportingStrongAlfred Naujocks provided a sworn affidavit to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1945 describing his personal command of the Gleiwitz operation on Heydrich's orders. As the operational commander, Naujocks had direct first-hand knowledge of the planning and execution.
Internal SS "Konserve" communications — documentary corroboration
SupportingStrongInternal SS and German military documents referencing the "Konserve" (canned goods) codename for the concentration camp prisoners used as staged Polish-uniformed bodies corroborate Naujocks's account from a second independent documentary source.
Franciszek Honiok identified as deliberate victim at scene
SupportingStrongPolish forensic investigations and historical research after the war identified Franciszek Honiok, a local Silesian with documented pro-Polish sympathies, as one of the individuals killed and placed at Gleiwitz to serve as apparent evidence of Polish attack. His identity and circumstances are documented.
Hitler's Reichstag address cited the attacks as justification
SupportingStrongHitler's 1 September 1939 Reichstag speech explicitly cited Polish attacks on German border installations — including Gleiwitz — as the reason for the military response. The speech is recorded and its content is consistent with the false-flag operation's intended purpose.
Heydrich died in 1942 — corroborating testimony lost
NeutralReinhard Heydrich, who conceived and ordered Operation Himmler, was assassinated in Prague in June 1942. His death before the Nuremberg trials meant that primary corroborating testimony for the operation's planning was unavailable. Naujocks's affidavit remains the sole surviving operational account.
Rebuttal
The absence of Heydrich's testimony does not undermine the Naujocks affidavit — it is simply an evidentiary gap. The documentary record from other sources corroborates the affidavit's core account.
Naujocks escaped Allied custody after the war
DebunkingWeakNaujocks was not ultimately tried at Nuremberg and later escaped from Allied internment, living under assumed identities. Some historians have noted this as a complication for treating his testimony as fully reliable.
Rebuttal
Naujocks's post-war conduct affects assessment of his personal character but does not invalidate his sworn Nuremberg affidavit, which is corroborated by independent documentary sources. The internal SS documents referencing "Konserve" do not depend on Naujocks's credibility.
German military records confirm planned invasion preceded the "provocation"
SupportingStrongCaptured German military planning documents (Fall Weiss — Case White) establish that the invasion of Poland was planned and timed before the Gleiwitz incident occurred. This confirms that the incident was a pretext for a decision already made, not a genuine response to Polish aggression.
Post-war Polish forensic investigation corroborated staged nature of scene
SupportingStrongPolish authorities and historians examining the Gleiwitz site and records after the war confirmed the staged nature of the incident through forensic analysis of the bodies, their uniforms, and the timeline of events. This independent investigation corroborates the Nuremberg testimony.
Naujocks Affidavit Is the Sole Direct Testimony and Carries Sole-Witness Reliability Limits
NeutralAlfred Naujocks's Nuremberg affidavit of November 1945 is the primary direct evidence for the Gleiwitz operation's specific operational details. While the historical consensus accepts the affidavit's broad account, sole-witness testimony from an SS officer with incentives to cooperate with Allied prosecutors carries inherent evidentiary limitations. Specific details — such as the exact number of concentration-camp prisoners used as props and their precise identities — remain unverified by independent corroborating documentation, leaving some operational particulars legitimately uncertain even within a solidly established overall historical narrative.
Historical Consensus Across German, Polish, and Allied Archives Is Robust
DebunkingStrongDespite reliance on Naujocks for operational specifics, the broader Gleiwitz false-flag is corroborated by Wehrmacht operational orders dated 31 August 1939, Hitler's Reichstag speech the following morning citing the 'attack,' contemporaneous German press releases, and post-war Polish archival research on Sachsenhausen prisoner transfers. No credible counter-narrative has been advanced by professional historians working in German Federal Archives. The operation is among the best-documented false-flag events of the 20th century precisely because Nazi administrative records survived in significant volume.
Evidence Cited by Believers6
Naujocks affidavit (PS-2751) — direct first-hand testimony
SupportingStrongAlfred Naujocks provided a sworn affidavit to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal in 1945 describing his personal command of the Gleiwitz operation on Heydrich's orders. As the operational commander, Naujocks had direct first-hand knowledge of the planning and execution.
Internal SS "Konserve" communications — documentary corroboration
SupportingStrongInternal SS and German military documents referencing the "Konserve" (canned goods) codename for the concentration camp prisoners used as staged Polish-uniformed bodies corroborate Naujocks's account from a second independent documentary source.
Franciszek Honiok identified as deliberate victim at scene
SupportingStrongPolish forensic investigations and historical research after the war identified Franciszek Honiok, a local Silesian with documented pro-Polish sympathies, as one of the individuals killed and placed at Gleiwitz to serve as apparent evidence of Polish attack. His identity and circumstances are documented.
Hitler's Reichstag address cited the attacks as justification
SupportingStrongHitler's 1 September 1939 Reichstag speech explicitly cited Polish attacks on German border installations — including Gleiwitz — as the reason for the military response. The speech is recorded and its content is consistent with the false-flag operation's intended purpose.
German military records confirm planned invasion preceded the "provocation"
SupportingStrongCaptured German military planning documents (Fall Weiss — Case White) establish that the invasion of Poland was planned and timed before the Gleiwitz incident occurred. This confirms that the incident was a pretext for a decision already made, not a genuine response to Polish aggression.
Post-war Polish forensic investigation corroborated staged nature of scene
SupportingStrongPolish authorities and historians examining the Gleiwitz site and records after the war confirmed the staged nature of the incident through forensic analysis of the bodies, their uniforms, and the timeline of events. This independent investigation corroborates the Nuremberg testimony.
Counter-Evidence2
Naujocks escaped Allied custody after the war
DebunkingWeakNaujocks was not ultimately tried at Nuremberg and later escaped from Allied internment, living under assumed identities. Some historians have noted this as a complication for treating his testimony as fully reliable.
Rebuttal
Naujocks's post-war conduct affects assessment of his personal character but does not invalidate his sworn Nuremberg affidavit, which is corroborated by independent documentary sources. The internal SS documents referencing "Konserve" do not depend on Naujocks's credibility.
Historical Consensus Across German, Polish, and Allied Archives Is Robust
DebunkingStrongDespite reliance on Naujocks for operational specifics, the broader Gleiwitz false-flag is corroborated by Wehrmacht operational orders dated 31 August 1939, Hitler's Reichstag speech the following morning citing the 'attack,' contemporaneous German press releases, and post-war Polish archival research on Sachsenhausen prisoner transfers. No credible counter-narrative has been advanced by professional historians working in German Federal Archives. The operation is among the best-documented false-flag events of the 20th century precisely because Nazi administrative records survived in significant volume.
Neutral / Ambiguous2
Heydrich died in 1942 — corroborating testimony lost
NeutralReinhard Heydrich, who conceived and ordered Operation Himmler, was assassinated in Prague in June 1942. His death before the Nuremberg trials meant that primary corroborating testimony for the operation's planning was unavailable. Naujocks's affidavit remains the sole surviving operational account.
Rebuttal
The absence of Heydrich's testimony does not undermine the Naujocks affidavit — it is simply an evidentiary gap. The documentary record from other sources corroborates the affidavit's core account.
Naujocks Affidavit Is the Sole Direct Testimony and Carries Sole-Witness Reliability Limits
NeutralAlfred Naujocks's Nuremberg affidavit of November 1945 is the primary direct evidence for the Gleiwitz operation's specific operational details. While the historical consensus accepts the affidavit's broad account, sole-witness testimony from an SS officer with incentives to cooperate with Allied prosecutors carries inherent evidentiary limitations. Specific details — such as the exact number of concentration-camp prisoners used as props and their precise identities — remain unverified by independent corroborating documentation, leaving some operational particulars legitimately uncertain even within a solidly established overall historical narrative.
Timeline
Heydrich orders Naujocks to plan staged border incidents
Reinhard Heydrich, head of the SD Security Service, orders Alfred Naujocks to plan and execute a series of staged attacks on German border installations to be attributed to Polish forces. The Gleiwitz radio station attack is the centrepiece of the operation.
Gleiwitz attack executed — "Konserve" bodies placed at scene
Naujocks leads the SS team in seizing the Gleiwitz radio station, broadcasting a brief anti-German message in Polish, and leaving the bodies of concentration camp prisoners and Franciszek Honiok — dressed in Polish uniforms — at the scene as staged evidence of Polish aggression.
Source →Hitler cites Polish attacks in Reichstag address; invasion begins
Hitler addresses the Reichstag and the German people, citing Polish attacks on German border installations as the reason for military action already underway. The German invasion of Poland begins at 4:45 a.m. Britain and France declare war on 3 September 1939.
Naujocks provides sworn affidavit to Nuremberg Military Tribunal
Captured Alfred Naujocks provides affidavit PS-2751 to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal describing his personal role as commander of the Gleiwitz operation. The affidavit is the sole surviving first-hand operational testimony and becomes the primary documentary basis for the historical record of the incident.
Source →
Verdict
Alfred Naujocks's 1945 affidavit to the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (PS-2751) directly describes his command of the Gleiwitz operation on Heydrich's orders. Corroborated by German military and diplomatic records, internal SS "Konserve" communications, and post-war Polish forensic investigations. The false-flag nature is established beyond reasonable historical dispute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Was the Gleiwitz incident a genuine Polish attack or a staged false flag?
It was a staged false flag. SS Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks confirmed under oath at the Nuremberg Military Tribunal (affidavit PS-2751) that he personally commanded the attack on Heydrich's orders. Concentration camp prisoners dressed in Polish uniforms were killed at the scene as staged evidence. The incident is one of the most thoroughly documented false-flag operations in modern history.
What was "Konserve" (canned goods)?
"Konserve" was the SS internal codename for the concentration camp prisoners used as staged bodies in the false-flag border incidents. The prisoners were dressed in Polish military uniforms and killed at the scene to serve as apparent evidence of Polish aggression. The term appears in internal SS communications corroborating the Naujocks affidavit.
Who was Franciszek Honiok and why was he chosen?
Franciszek Honiok was a local Silesian man known for his pro-Polish sympathies. He was selected by the SS precisely because his background would lend credibility to the staged narrative of a Polish attacker. He was killed and left at the Gleiwitz station dressed in a Polish uniform. Post-war Polish forensic investigations confirmed his identity and circumstances.
How reliable is the Naujocks affidavit as historical evidence?
The Naujocks affidavit is the sole surviving first-hand operational testimony and is the primary documentary basis for the historical record. Its core account is corroborated by independent sources: captured German military planning documents (Fall Weiss), internal SS communications referencing "Konserve," and post-war Polish forensic investigations. Naujocks's post-war conduct (escaping custody, living under false identities) is noted but does not undermine a sworn affidavit corroborated by independent documents.
Sources
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Further Reading
- paperNaujocks affidavit PS-2751 — Yale Avalon Project — Alfred Naujocks (1945)
- bookThe Origins of the Second World War — Richard Overy (2011)
- articleGleiwitz incident — USHMM Holocaust Encyclopedia — USHMM Editorial (2023)