When you think of the European theatre and the outbreak of World War 2, most people will
put the date on September 1, 1939. For good reason, as it marked the official German invasion
of Poland. Yet in the 1960s, some German secret documents were unearthed, and they detailed
the phone conversation an Abwehr lieutenant had with his superior a week prior to the
invasion of Poland. And it wasn’t a happy conversation.
The lieutenant participated in Poland’s invasion, held a train station close to the
Slovakian border, captured 40 Polish soldiers, and was requesting backup because his expeditionary
force of 70 men faced a much larger Polish force. Instead of the expected acknowledgement
of his successful campaign so far, his commander yelled at him to withdraw immediately and
return to his military base. Because it was the early morning of August 26th, one week
before the official invasion of Poland. Lieutenant Hans-Albrecht Herzner and his 70 soldiers
accidentally nearly started the Second World War one week too early.
Background
Hans-Albrecht Herzner was a German Abwehr agent and a lieutenant in the army, commanding
a 70-men strong expeditionary force stationed in the town of Csaca at the Slovakian-Polish
border. Tensions between Germany and Poland had been rising for a while, and many of these
units would participate in the invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939, marking the beginning
of the Second World War in Europe. And we would have never known about Herzner’s actions
nearly starting the war one week earlier, if it wasn’t for some secret documents discovered
in an archive two decades after the war ended. One week before Poland’s official invasion,
Herzner and his unit invaded Poland. They fought their way towards the strategically
located train station in Mosty and the nearby tunnel situated in the so-called Jablunkov
Pass. This mountain pass was located on the Slovakian-Polish border. The tunnel housed
a single-track railway. The tunnel and railway were of especially strategic value because
it was the shortest connection between Poland’s capital Warsaw and Austria’s capital Vienna.
The Polish military, understanding a German invasion was only a matter of time considering
the increased hostilities over the past few months, decided to give the Germans a run
for their money in case they did invade. As such, the Jablunkov-tunnel was strapped with
dynamite and other explosives, for it to be destroyed in case the Germans did invade.
So… why did Herzner launch an invasion a week early? Well, it wasn’t necessarily
on purpose. Telephone communication back then was much more infrequent than it is nowadays.
Not to mention the fact that while on a mission, it was challenging to reach troops. Adolf
Hitler’s initial plan had been to launch Poland’s invasion on August 26. But he changed
his mind at the last minute when it became clear Great Britain and Poland signed a treaty
promising mutual military support in case of war.
The timeline was as follows: at 3 PM on August 25, Hitler ordered his Generals to prepare
for the invasion of Poland that night, but he cancelled the orders last minute at 7 PM
that same day. German commanders notified their 2.5 million troops: war would not yet
break out.
Jablunkov Incident
So most of the German units preparing their invasion into Poland received their orders
to stand down in time. But not Herzner. Stationed at Csaca in Slovakia, he never received the
order because the unit was already on its way. During those initial evening hours, Herzner
and his unit went on their way to carry out their part of the attack against Poland. About
an hour after their departure, quietly trekking into Polish territory, unbeknownst to them,
Hitler officially cancelled the mission. As they traversed the Tatra Mountains, any telephone
and radio signal disappeared, which rendered Herzner’s commander, Major Paul Reichelt,
unable to contact him. After a few hours of marching, by this point
past midnight, Herzner’s troops reached the Jablunkov-tunnel. They had to traverse
it to reach the Mosty railway station. Approximately 40 Polish guards protected these objectives.
Rapidly executing their planned operation, Herzner’s men managed to overpower and capture
all of the guards before they could sound the alarm. At least five Polish soldiers were
killed within the tunnel before the railway station was overrun. Other sources indicate
the Germans only managed to capture Mosty but faced fierce resistance from soldiers
guarding the tunnel. At any rate, one of the telegraphists within
the railway station managed to evade capture. She alerted the Polish military, while the
Germans secured their positions and waited for reinforcements, surely arriving any minute.
Meanwhile, Reichelt had dispatched several communication officers to Csaca, who notified
him that the lieutenant wasn’t there. The only logical conclusion was that he actually
invaded Poland - on his own. Reichelt made his way to Csaca as soon as possible, arriving
there somewhere in the early morning hours of August 26.
Meanwhile, Lieutenant Herzner was aware of the Jablunkov-tunnel strapped with dynamite.
He ordered a Polish train conductor to drive his locomotive through the tunnel to defuse
the explosives. Before the train reached the tunnel, the Polish reinforcements arrived
at the scene, vastly outnumbering the much smaller German unit. It was between 8 and
9 AM at this point. Over in Cdaca, Reichelt received a telephone
call from Herzner at around 10 AM. The Lieutenant declared he captured 40 Polish prisoners,
but required backup in order to fend off the more significant Polish force coming to their
defence. Instead of the expected acknowledgement of his bravery, the reports state Reichelt
informed Herzner they postponed the war. He should withdraw from Poland as soon as possible
and release all prisoners. When Herzner asked what he should do, Reichelt simply said he
was on his own and should figure something out.
Not too long after, a Polish locomotive crossed the Slovakian border. Aboard were Herzner
and his remaining troops. It was 1:30 PM; Herzner’s invasion lasted a bit over 12
hours and could very well have been an accidental early start of the Second World War. One German
soldier was killed and two more wounded. Statistics about Polish casualties aren’t recorded
anywhere, but eyewitness accounts mention at least five dead.
In the aftermath, the German propaganda machine made Herzner out to be a rogue Lieutenant.
He supposedly coordinated the attack entirely on his own, not complying with direct orders
from higher-ups. Clearly, the Poles didn’t believe any of
it. And when the Germans launched their actual invasion on September 1, just a few days later,
one of the first things the Polish military did was blow up the Jablunkov-tunnel. Thanks
to the considerable damage, the tunnel was rendered out of use for two full years.
And as for Hans-Albrecht Herzner, once the full-fledged war finally broke out, he was
awarded the Iron Cross second class. When the Germans invaded Ukraine upon Operation
Barbarossa’s launch, Herzner was promoted to first lieutenant in the Ukrainian Nationalists’
Legion and briefly commanded the infamous Nightingale Battalion. During combat, he sustained
critical injuries and passed away in September 1942. He was posthumously promoted to the
rank of Captain. Although the Lieutenant accidentally began the Second World War a week too early,
the chaos certainly foreshadowed what was to come.
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