On the evening of August 31, 1939, members of Nazi Germany's paramilitary organization, the "Schutzstaffel" (SS) occupied a radio station in Gleiwitz, Upper Silesia — then Germany and now Gliwice, Poland. They pretended to be Polish soldiers and broadcast a message in Polish calling for armed struggle against Nazi Germany.

The goal was to give the impression that Polish soldiers had attacked and taken control of the German radio station. As "proof" the men left behind the body of an imprisoned Polish civilian framing him as a perpetrator. They had murdered him for this very purpose. The false flag attack was part of a series of similar provocations staged along the border. Germany's Nazi leader Adolf Hitler wanted a justification for war in order to seize Poland and his plans for expansionism towards the East.

Less than 24 hours later, early on the morning of September 1, the German military, the Wehrmacht invaded Poland — without having declared war.

That same day, Hitler made a statement in front of the lawmakers in the Reichstag in Berlin that was broadcast on the radio into virtually every German home: "This night for the first time Polish regular soldiers fired on our territory. Since 5.45 A.M. we have been returning the fire, and from now on bombs will be met by bombs. Whoever fights with poison gas will be fought with poison gas. Whoever departs from the rules of humane warfare can only expect that we shall do the same. I will continue this struggle, no matter against whom until the safety of the Reich and its rights are secured."

The Ministry of Propaganda then issued guidelines on how the media was to report on the conflict: The word "war" was not to be used in headlines. The message to be conveyed was: we are only........

© Deutsche Welle