GLIWICE, Poland, August 19 (Leonid Sviridov for RIA Novosti) – On August 31, 1939, the Nazis staged a provocation in Gliwice to create a formal excuse for unleashing World War II. On September 1, they started firing at Westerplatte in Gdansk, and invaded Poland.
“Now this is a museum. We are visited by many tourists, particularly from Germany. Guests from Russia also come here. But RIA Novosti is the first Russian media, which has shown such interest in this place. In any event, as far as I remember, we did not see Russian journalists here after 1989 when Poland embarked on dramatic political and economic changes,” said the Gliwice Radio Station Museum Director, Andrzej Jarczewski.
A little history
Gliwice is a city in Silesia in south Poland. It is called Gliwice in Polish, Gleiwitz in German, and Hlivice in Czech. It is inhabited by about 200,000 people. By European standards, it is a typical medium-size city.
The first mention of Gliwice dates back to 1276. It was initially a Czech city, then Polish, and was incorporated into Prussia in 1742.
Three Silesian uprisings took place in Gliwice after World War I (1919-1921), and three plebiscites were held. In the voting on March 20, 1921, the city’s residents were to decide whether they wanted to belong to Germany or Poland. A total of 32,029 people (78.7% of the vote) wanted to remain in Germany; 8,558 (21%) wanted to become part of Poland. All in all, 97% of all residents took part in the voting. Gliwice was the last major city of the Third Reich. The state border with Poland was a mere five kilometers away.
After the end of WWII in 1945, Gliwice, and the rest of Silesia became part of Poland.
Unusual wooden tower
“An 111 meter-high aerial tower – the antennae of the Gliwice Radio Station – is one of the most interesting wooden structures in Upper Silesia. Now it is the tallest wooden tower in the world,” Jarczewski said.
Diligently maintained, preserved, and repaired every year, the tower still has 20 years of safe service ahead.
“The tower was built of larch wood, which is especially resistant to atmospheric factors and vermin infestation. Not a single iron nail was used in its construction. The beams are joined with 16,000 brass screws,” the director went on.
The radio station’s structure was built by the German company Lorenz in 1935. It contains many ingenious pieces of prewar radio equipment designed by Siemens, Telefunken, and AEG.
The tower operates to this day. It holds several dozen antennas of different types, which service the city’s rescue center, mobile phone networks, and other communication systems. User fees allow the tower to earn enough for its upkeep.
“Grandma is dead”
Several armed SS soldiers in plain clothes, posing as “Silesian rebels,” burst into the building of the German Radio Station in Gliwice at 8 p.m. on August 31, 1939. The operation was directed by SS Sturmbannfuehrer Alfred Naujocks. He was appointed for this mission personally by the head of the Reich’s Security Service Main Department Reinhard Heydrich, who was acting on direct orders from Hitler.
The operation was conducted under a thick veil of secrecy. Only a password was determined, which was to be given by Heydrich to Naujocks by phone: “Grossmutter gestorben (Grandma is dead).” This code word was an order to start the operation.
The disguised SS men only managed to broadcast part of their report (literally for 10 seconds) in Polish: “Attention! This is Gliwice. The radio station has been seized by the Poles…” The rest of the address did not go on the air – one of the station’s employees tacitly pushed the switch off button.
“Tin can”
“Franciszek Honiok, a Polish Silesian, was murdered here, in front of the entrance to the radio station. He is believed to have been the first victim of WWII,” the director continued.
On the eve of his murder, Honiok had been arrested by the Gestapo in his native village near Gliwice. They had injected him with drugs, brought to the radio station as “tin can” at 8:10 p.m., and shot him.
The Silesian was supposed to be proof of “Polish guilt.” Germany wanted to show that it attacked Poland merely in response to the latter’s provocations against German residents. On the following day, September 1, 1939, Hitler made a speech to justify the beginning of hostilities based on Poland’s border provocations.
In the summer of 1939, the Germans organized numerous provocations along their border with Poland. The main goal of the “Grandma is dead” operation was to persuade Britain and France not to abide by the treaties on military assistance to Poland. “The logic was simple – if Poles attacked Germans, Britain and France should not act on the side of the Polish aggressor,” Jarczewski explained.
SS Sturmbannfuhrer Naujocks went down in history as the “man who started WWII.” He died in Hamburg in 1960.
All major world newspapers, radio and telegraph agencies reported the events in Gliwice at the time. The truth about the Gliwice provocation was not discovered until as late as the Nuremberg trials.
Once Radio Liberty was jammed here, and now this is a museum of radio history
In 2002, the Gliwice municipal authorities purchased the three hectares of the area with relevant infrastructure from Polish Communications, which was in charge of the radio station entire premises after the war.
Until 1951, the radio station broadcasted the programs of Radio Katowice. Later on, through 1956, it jammed Radio Liberty and Radio Free Europe. Subsequently, radio transmitters and telecommunication equipment were produced on its territory.
In 2005, the Gliwice Radio Station was placed in charge of the Gliwice city museum, which opened an affiliate there – the Museum of the History of Radio and the Art of the Media.
Now the museum’s building and the tower are being renovated. “The radio station will not only conduct live history lessons, but will also help the younger generation master the latest technology and multimedia,” the director said.
The tower looks particularly attractive after dusk. Illuminated with tens of thousands of lamps and powerful spotlights, it is visible from a distance of several kilometers.
Under the plan, the repairs are due to be completed by the end of August. However, it was demonstrated especially for RIA Novosti how the Gliwice Radio Station will look every evening, starting on August 31, 2009.
Mass for Peace
“Gliwice is a border city where cultures have mixed for millennia. People of different nationalities lived in harmony here. It was a German city before WWII, but Poles have always lived in it,” said Gliwice Mayor Zygmunt Frankiewicz.
In 1945, Gliwice was the first German city to be liberated by the Red Army. “Poles came here from the east in 1945-1946, while the German population was pushed further west. At that time, Poles formed the majority of the city’s residents, who had been forcefully moved from what is now Western Ukraine, mostly from Lviv and its suburbs. My mother was also born in Ukraine,” Frankiewicz recalled.
The radio station is a historical site for the city’s residents. It is here that WWII was unleashed. “The wooden tower itself is a unique installation. This is why the municipal authorities decided to buy it together with the adjacent buildings. The city has already spent about two million Euros on upgrading the radio station. We are also planning to restore all the neighboring structures. We want to apply to the European Union (EU) for financial aid, and we hope to receive it. It will become a major tourist attraction,” the mayor said.
On August 30, Gliwice will host a number of events linked with the 70th anniversary of the start of WWII. In the evening, a symphony orchestra will play a “Mass for Peace” on an open site near the tower. It was written by the famous Polish composer and orchestra director, Wojciech Kilar.
“We have invited guests from the twin cities and different countries, including Sweden, Britain, Germany, Hungary, Slovakia, and France,” the mayor said.
He explained that these events will take place on August 30 rather than 31. “Everything will take place before the day of the provocation. We do not want to observe the anniversary of the provocation. We want to remind people that a tragedy started here, but that now we can listen to the ‘Mass for Peace’.” We should move on, and look into the future of a united Europe instead of reopening old wounds,” Frankiewicz said.
The opinions expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily represent those of RIA Novosti.
