Operation Himmler

Operation Himmler (less often known as Operation Konserve or Operation Canned Goods) was a Nazi Germany false flag project to create the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany, which was subsequently used by Nazi propaganda to justify the invasion of Poland. Operation Himmler was arguably the first act of the Second World War in Europe.^[1]

The plan

Shown from left to right are a minor SS functionary (Huber), Arthur Nebe, and then three people responsible for planning of most of Operation Himmler: Heinrich Himmler, Reinhard Heydrich and Heinrich Müller.

For months prior to the 1939 invasion, German newspapers and politicians like Adolf Hitler had carried out a national and international propaganda campaign accusing Polish authorities of organizing or tolerating violent ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland.^[2][3] On 22 August, Adolf Hitler told his generals:

“

"I will provide a propagandistic casus belli. Its credibility doesn't matter. The victor will not be asked whether he told the truth."[4][5]

”

The plan, named after its inventor, Heinrich Himmler,^[1] was supervised by Reinhard Heydrich^[6] and (primarily^[7]) by Heinrich Müller.^[1][6] The goal of this false flag project was to create the appearance of Polish aggression against Germany, which was subsequently used to justify the invasion of Poland. Hitler also might have hoped to confuse the Polish allies (the United Kingdom and France) to delay or prevent their declaration of war on Germany.^[8]

The execution

The operations were mostly carried out on 31 August 1939.^[4] The operation - as well as the main German offensive - was originally scheduled for 26 August; the shifting diplomatic situation resulted in delay until 31 August/1 September - but one of the German undercover units was not informed and carried out its attack on a German customs post; several Germans were killed before the incident ended.^[9] The operations were carried by agents of the SS^[4] and the SD.^[10] The German troops, dressed in Polish uniforms, would storm various border buildings, scare the locals with inaccurate shots, carry out acts of vandalism, and retreat, leaving behind dead bodies in Polish uniforms.^[10] The bodies were in fact prisoners from concentration camps; they were dressed in Polish uniforms, killed (often by a lethal injection of a poison, then shot for appearance) and left behind. They were described as "Konserve" i.e., canned goods, in planning documents (which also led to the more informal name of the operation, Operation Konserve).^{[1][11][4][12]}

There were several separate operations, including staged attacks on:

• the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz (Gliwice) (this was arguably the most notable of Operation Himmler operations; see Gleiwitz incident for details)^[11]
• the German customs station at Hochlinden (today part of Rybnik-Stodoły)^[11][10]
• the forest service station in Pitschen (Byczyna)^[10]

The Gleiwitz incident

Gliwice Radio Tower today. It is the highest wooden structure in Europe.

For more details on this topic, see Gleiwitz incident.

On the night of 31 August 1939 a small group of German operatives, dressed in Polish uniforms and led by Alfred Naujocks, seized the Gleiwitz station and broadcast a short anti-German message in Polish (sources vary on the content on the message). Several prisoners (most likely from the Dachau concentration camp) and a local Polish-Silesian activist (arrested a day before) were left dead on the scene in Polish uniforms.^[11][13]

Aftermath

On 1 September, in a speech in the Reichstag, Adolf Hitler cited the 21 border incidents as justification for Germany's "defensive" action against Poland:

“

"I can no longer find any willingness on the part of the Polish Government to conduct serious negotiations with us. These proposals for mediation have failed because in the meanwhile there, first of all, came as an answer the sudden Polish general mobilization, followed by more Polish atrocities. These were again repeated last night. Recently in one night there were as many as twenty-one frontier incidents: last night there were fourteen, of which three were quite serious. I have, therefore, resolved to speak to Poland in the same language that Poland for months past has used toward us... This night for the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our own territory. Since 5:45 a. m. we have been returning the fire... I will continue this struggle, no matter against whom, until the safety of the Reich and its rights are secured"[2]

”

By mid-1939, thousands of Polish Volksdeutsche had been secretly prepared for sabotage and guerrilla warfare by the Breslau (Wrocław) office of the Abwehr; the purpose of their activities was to provoke anti-German reprisals that could be claimed as provocations by the Germans.^[14] Those German agents indeed cooperated with the German forces during the invasion of Poland, leading to some reprisals, highly exaggerated by the German Nazi propaganda.^{[14][15] [16]} The most famous case of such a scenario was reportedly carried out during Bydgoszcz Bloody Sunday.

The operation failed to convince international public opinion of the German claims,^[8] but might have had more contemporary success in Germany itself, resulting in historical controversies and disputes (some continuing to this day).

See also

• Operation Tannenberg
• Shelling of Mainila

References

1. ^ ^{a b c d} Roger Manvell, Heinrich Fraenkel, Heinrich Himmler: The SS, Gestapo, His Life and Career, Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2007, ISBN 1602391785, Google Print, p.76
2. ^ ^{a b} Address by Adolf Hitler - September 1, 1939; retrieved from the archives of the Avalon Project at the Yale Law School.
3. ^ Nazi Conspiracy And Aggression, Volume VI. Office of United States Chief of Counsel For Prosecution of Axis Criminality. United States Government Printing Office: Washington, 1946, p.188
4. ^ ^{a b c d} James J. Wirtz, Roy Godson, Strategic Denial and Deception: The Twenty-First Century Challenge, Transaction Publishers, 2002, ISBN 0765808986, Google Print, p.100
5. ^ Bradley Lightbody, The Second World War: Ambitions to Nemesis, Routledge, 2004, ISBN 0415224055, Google Print, p.39
6. ^ ^{a b} 20 Nuremberg Trial Proceedings Volume 4; Thursday, 20 December 1945. The Avalon Project. Retrieved on 4 August, 2007.
7. ^ Gerald Reitlinger, The SS, Alibi of a Nation, 1922-1945, Da Capo Press, 1989, ISBN 0306803518, Print, p.122
8. ^ ^{a b} Steven J. Zaloga, Poland 1939: The Birth of Blitzkrieg, Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN 1841764086, Google Print, p.39
9. ^ Jack Weidner, A Question of Honor, Buy Books on the web, 2002, ISBN 0741409534, Google Print, p.61
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Martin Allen, Himmler's Secret War: The Covert Peace Negotiations of Heinrich Himmler, Carroll & Graf Publishers, 2005, ISBN 0786717084, Google Print, p.51
11. ^ ^{a b c d} Christopher J. Ailsby, The Third Reich Day by Day, Zenith Imprint, 2001, ISBN 0760311676, Google Print, p.112
12. ^ John S. Craig, Peculiar Liaisons in War, Espionage, and Terrorism of the Twentieth Century, Algora Publishing, 2005, ISBN 0875863310, Google Print, p.180
13. ^ Museum in Gliwice: WHAT HAPPENED HERE?
14. ^ ^{a b} Perry Biddiscombe, Alexander Perry, Werwolf!: The History of the National Socialist Guerrilla Movement, 1944-1946, University of TorontoPress, 1998, ISBN 0802008623, Google Print, p.207
15. ^ For an example of Nazi propaganda document discussing "Polish atrocities against the German people", see The Polish Atrocities Against the German Minority in Poland Compiled by Hans Schadewaldt (Berlin: German foreign office, 1940) pp. 35-54, cases 1 - 15. signed testimony of Herbert Matthes, Bromberg furniture maker
16. ^ Richard Blanke, The American Historical Review, Vol. 97, No. 2. Apr., 1992, pp. 580-582. Review of: Włodzimierz Jastrzębski,Der Bromberger Blutsonntag: Legende und Wirklichkeit. and Andrzej Brożek, Niemcy zagraniczni w polityce kolonizacji pruskich prowincji wschodnich (1886-1918) JSTOR

Further reading

• (Polish) Tomasz Chinciński, Niemiecka dywersja we wrześniu 1939 w Londyńskich meldunkach, Biuletyn Instytutu Pamięci Narodowej, nr 8-9/2004
• (Polish) Tomasz Chinciński, Niemiecka dywersja w Polsce w 1939 r. w świetle dokumentów policyjnych i wojskowych II Rzeczypospolitej oraz służb specjalnych III Rzeszy. Część 1 (marzec–sierpień 1939 r.). Pamięć i Sprawiedliwość. nr 2 (8)/2005