'' AB-Aktion '' ( , ) , was a second stage of the Nazi German campaign of violence during World War II aimed to eliminate the intellectuals and the upper classes of Polish society across the territories slated for eventual annexation . Most of the killings were arranged in a form of mass disappearances from multiple cities and towns upon the German arrival . In the spring and summer of 1940 , more than 30,000 Poles were arrested by the Nazi authorities in German-occupied central Poland . About 7,000 of them including community leaders , professors , teachers and priests ( labeled as suspected of criminal activities ) were subsequently massacred secretly at various locations including at the Palmiry forest complex near Palmiry . The others were sent to German concentration camps
eliminate the intellectuals
Intelligenzaktion
German AB-Aktion in Poland