10. Operation Himmler
Operation Himmler was a plot concocted by Heinrich Himmler to convince the German people that Poland was being aggressive toward Germany. The operation was gearing up for a justification of the invasion of Poland and what became the start of the Second World War. Some believed that the elaborate plot might have also intended to delay Poland’s allies from entering the war after the German invasion.
In order to convince the German people that Poland was the aggressor, the Nazis launched a propaganda campaign that suggested Poland was involved in the ethnic cleansing of ethnic Germans living in Poland. To further incite hatred toward Poland there were several planned attacks along the German/Poland border that were carried out by SS members. On August 31st, 1939 German troops dressed in Polish uniforms stormed border buildings, shot at locals (intentionally missing) and vandalized the area.To further convince people of Poland’s aggression the SS members would leave dead “Polish” soldiers behind. In reality these were people from concentration camps who were killed by lethal injection and then shot so their bodies could be used to convince the German people that not only had Poland invaded but German troops had protected them. In planning documents, the dead bodies were referred to as “canned goods.”
Another part of the plot was to have the operatives seize the Gleiwitz station and broadcast a message in Polish. Several bodies, including that of a Polish activist that had been arrested the day before, were left at the station. Within Poland, thousands of Germans had been secretly prepared for sabotage and guerrilla warfare. Their goal was to provoke anti-German reprisals that Hitler could use as justification for invasion. There were some reprisals which were grossly exaggerated by the Nazi party. Whether or not the propaganda worked in Germany, it did not work in the international community.