Gleiwitz incident

E7414

The Gleiwitz incident was a staged 1939 false-flag attack by Nazi Germany on a German radio station, used as propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland and the start of World War II.


Statements (46)
Predicate Object
instanceOf false flag operation
historical event
propaganda event
staged attack
alsoKnownAs Gleiwitz radio station attack
Gleiwitz incident
surface form: "Gliwice incident"
category Events preceding World War II
Nazi war crimes
Political deception
country Nazi Germany
date 1939-08-31
followedBy Invasion of Poland
surface form: "German invasion of Poland on 1939-09-01"
hasLanguageOfBroadcast German
Polish
historicalSignificance example of false flag operation in modern warfare
key propaganda element in Nazi justification for war
location Germany
Gleiwitz radio station
surface form: "Gleiwitz"

Gleiwitz radio station
Prussian Silesia
surface form: "Upper Silesia"
mediaTypeInvolved radio broadcast
method broadcast of anti-German statements in Polish
seizure of a German radio station
use of murdered prisoners as fake Polish attackers
orderedBy HeinrichHimmler
surface form: "Heinrich Himmler"
organizedBy Alfred Naujocks
partOf Nazi German operations against Poland
Operation Himmler
perpetrator Gestapo
SS
plannedBy ReinhardHeydrich
surface form: "Reinhard Heydrich"
pretextFor Hitler’s Reichstag speech of 1 September 1939
purpose to fabricate Polish aggression against Germany
to justify German military action against Poland
relatedTo Invasion of Poland
Nazi propaganda
Operation Himmler
World War II
result German propaganda claim of Polish attack
international misrepresentation of Polish responsibility
timePeriod eve of World War II
interwar period
usedAsPretextFor Invasion of Poland
surface form: "German invasion of Poland"

outbreak of World War II in Europe
victim concentration camp prisoners
year 1939

Referenced by (10)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Gleiwitz incident alsoKnownAs Gleiwitz incident
this entity surface form: "Gliwice incident"
Operation Himmler hasPart Gleiwitz incident
Plan White justificationUsedByGermany Gleiwitz incident
Gleiwitz radio station knownFor Gleiwitz incident
Operation Himmler notableEvent Gleiwitz incident
this entity surface form: "Gleiwitz radio station attack"
Case White precededBy Gleiwitz incident
this entity surface form: "German–Polish border incidents"
Case White precededBy Gleiwitz incident
Invasion of Poland precededBy Gleiwitz incident
Fall Weiss pretext Gleiwitz incident

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