1 September 1939, Outbreak of WWII
The provocation against the Gliwice Radio Station
The radio station was a scene of murder of Franciszek Honiok, a Polish Silesian, presently believed to have been the first victim of the World War II. Honiok was brought here by a Gestapo group as a "tin can". He was supposed to be a proof of the “Polish guilt". The next day Hitler gave a speech in which he justified the outbreak of war with border provocations, allegedly performed by the Poles.
One of the most characteristic structures in the Upper Silesia is an aerial tower at the Tarnogórska Street in Gliwice. The complex of the radio station buildings was constructed in the period 1934 - 35 by a German company Lorenz (co-operation: Siemens, Telefunken, and others). The main edifice still holds much of the original pre-war equipment preserved. The most valuable structure of the entire complex is - obviously - the broadcast tower, at present believed to be the tallest wooden structure in the world (110m). Diligently maintained, preserved and repaired every year, according to the scientists from the Silesian University of Technology, it still has 20 years of safe functioning ahead. It is built of larch wood, specially resistant to vermin and atmosphere factors. The beams are joined together with brass screws. There is not a single iron nail in the tower. The tower looks specially attractive after dusk. Illuminated with eight massive spotlights, it is well visible from a distance of many kilometers.
