DER FALL GLEIWITZ

On the evening of August 31, 1939, the German radio station in Gliwice was attacked by Polish so called “Freischärlern” who were members of a voluntary military association. But, the attack was a provocation precisely prepared and skilfully staged by the Nazis. It was a top-secret action, which helped to blame the war on Poland and caused Adolf Hitler to make the famous declaration of war: " Since 5:45 a.m., the gun has been fired back". On September 1, the Second World War began. Six years later there were 43 million dead and Europe had become a landscape of ruins.   The feature film shot by the DEFA in 1961 describes the preparation and the course of the attack on the transmitter in a propaganda style. The statements of the former SS-Sturmbannführer Alfred Naujocks at the Nuremberg Trial provided the script for this story. The film premiered in the cinemas of the GDR on August 24, 1961 – a few days after the Wall was built in Berlin. KM