Many university professors , as well as teachers , lawyers , artists , writers , priests and other members of the Polish intelligentsia were arrested and executed , or transported to concentration camps , during operations such as '' AB-Aktion '' . This particular campaign resulted in the infamous '' Sonderaktion Krakau '' and the massacre of Lwów professors . During World War II Poland lost 39 % to 45 % of its physicians and dentists , 26 % to 57 % of its lawyers , 15 % to 30 % of its teachers , 30 % to 40 % of its scientists and university professors , and 18 % to 28 % of its clergy . The Jewish intelligentsia was exterminated altogether . The reasoning behind this policy was clearly articulated by a Nazi '' gauleiter '' : " In my district , any Pole who shows signs of intelligence will be shot . " 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 Reichsgau Wartheland , 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 extermination
Sonderaktion Krakau
Sonderaktion Krakau
Polish culture during World War II