 As part of their program to suppress Polish culture , the German Nazis attempted to destroy Christianity in Poland , with a particular emphasis on the Roman Catholic Church . In some parts of occupied Poland , Poles were restricted , or even forbidden , from attending religious services . At the same time , church property was confiscated , prohibitions were placed on using the Polish language in religious services , organizations affiliated with the Catholic Church were abolished , and it was forbidden to perform certain religious songs — or to read passages of the Bible — in public . The worst conditions were found in the <unk> <unk> , which the Nazis treated as a laboratory for their anti @-@ religious policies . Polish clergy and religious leaders figured prominently among portions of the intelligentsia that were targeted for <unk> . 
