 Germany 's policy toward the Polish nation and its culture evolved during the course of the war . Many German officials and military officers were initially not given any clear guidelines on the treatment of Polish cultural institutions , but this quickly changed . Immediately following the invasion of Poland in September 1939 , the Nazi German government implemented the first stages ( the " small plan " ) of <unk> Ost . The basic policy was outlined by the Berlin Office of Racial Policy in a document titled Concerning the Treatment of the <unk> of the Former Polish Territories , from a Racial @-@ Political <unk> . Slavic people living east of the pre @-@ war German border were to be <unk> , enslaved or eradicated , depending on whether they lived in the territories directly annexed into the German state or in the General Government . 
