7016 - Hans-Albrecht Herzner Autograph Telegram Signed - The First Military Telegram of World War II

Hans-Albrecht Herzner Autograph Telegram Signed - The First Military Telegram of World War II ALS pencil, in German, signed “Herzner,” one page on a 5.75 x 7.75 partly-printed German telegram form, August 26, 1939. Herzner reports on the 'Jablunkov incident,' when a group of German Abwehr agents under his command attacked a rail station along the Polish-Slovak border in an effort to capture the Jablunkov Pass. In full (translated): "2 Company crossed frontier about 0100 hours without incident." In fine condition, with uniform toning and a chip to one corner. The telegram is dated a week before the generally cited start of the war. It documents a covert German commando mission led by Hans-Albrecht Herzner, part of preparations for the invasion of Poland. Herzner's force, estimated at around 30 men, crossed the border near Jablunkov, on the German-Polish-Czech border (now in Czechia), with orders to seize a strategic rail tunnel through the mountain pass. The full invasion was set for August 26 but was postponed a week by Hitler after the United Kingdom and Poland signed a mutual defense treaty the day before. Herzner's unit did not receive word of the postponement and carried out its mission regardless, withdrawing after Polish railroad workers alerted the Polish army to the German presence. The Jablunkov incident was one of several German border provocations staged in the days before the September 1 invasion, intended to be used as justification for the attack as a response to Polish aggression.