In August 1939 Hitler was stirring up tension with Poland and he was prepared to fabricate whatever was needed as a pretext to invade. On August 11th he told the League of Nations High Commissioner
If thereâ??s the slightest provocation, I shall shatter Poland without warning into so many pieces that there will be nothing left to pick up.
On August 22nd Hitler spoke to his military commanders
I will give propagandistic cause for the release of the war, whether convincing or not. The winner is not asked later whether he said the truth or not.
In fact preparations for Operation Tannenburg had begun on August 8th when SS-Gruppenfuhrer Reinhard Heydrich told his men that war with Poland was â??inevitableâ??.
The idea for fake â??border incidentsâ?, in which Germany would apparently be the victim of attacks by Poles probably came from Heydrich himself. It was he who was ordered to stage them, assisted by SS-Oberfuhrer Muller, head of the Gestapo.
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