 Polish literature faced a similar fate in territories annexed by Germany , where the sale of Polish books was forbidden . The public destruction of Polish books was not limited to those seized from libraries , but also included those books that were confiscated from private homes . The last Polish book titles not already proscribed were withdrawn in 1943 ; even Polish prayer books were confiscated . Soon after the occupation began , most libraries were closed ; in Kraków , about 80 % of the libraries were closed immediately , while the remainder saw their collections decimated by censors . The occupying powers destroyed Polish book collections , including the Sejm and Senate Library , the <unk> Estate Library , the <unk> Estate Library , the Central Military Library , and the <unk> Collection . In 1941 , the last remaining Polish public library in the German @-@ occupied territories was closed in Warsaw . During the war , Warsaw libraries lost about a million volumes , or 30 % of their collections . More than 80 % of these losses were the direct result of <unk> rather than wartime conflict . Overall , it is estimated that about 10 million volumes from state @-@ owned libraries and institutions perished during the war . 
