Grehan, John Hitler’s Attacks That Ignited WW2

Operation Himmler: The Incidents at Mosty and Gleiwitz in August 1939

On 26 August 1939, Hitler planned his blitzkrieg against Poland, during which he intended to advance through the Jabonków Pass to capture Warsaw. An important part of the strategy was to capture the tunnel and railway station in Mosty on the Kosice-Bohumín railway line in order to prevent Polish resistance. Late in the evening of 25 August, a German defence unit in civilian clothing crossed the border and reached Mosty at 4 a.m. on 26 August. Their mission was to secure the tunnel for the 7th Infantry Division nearby. However, Hitler postponed the invasion after Britain signed a defence pact with Poland. The Poles recognised the strategic importance of the tunnel, blew it up and maintained good communications. A skirmish ensued, forcing the Germans to retreat and alerting Poland to the impending invasion. Determined, Hitler postponed the attack until 1 September. To justify the invasion, German agents staged a false flag attack on the Gleiwitz radio station on 31 August, broadcasting an anti-German message in Polish and leaving behind corpses prisoners from Dachau in Polish uniforms as evidence. This was part of Operation Himmler, a series of staged provocations. At dawn on 1 September, German tanks invaded Poland. On 3 September, Britain and France declared war on Germany, marking the beginning of the Second World War. Hitler's Attacks That Ignited WW2 examines these events through eyewitness accounts, documents and photographs.