The Gleiwitz incident was a planned German attack against the radio station `` Sender Gleiwitz '' in the German town of Gliwice on the night of August 31 , 1939 . The Gleiwitz incident was a staged attack by Nazi forces posing as Poles on 31 August 1939 , against the German radio station Sender Gleiwitz in Gleiwitz , Upper Silesia , Germany ( since 1945 : Gliwice , Poland ) on the eve of World War II in Europe .