The Nazis regarded the Slavs as '' Untermenschen '' ( subhuman ) . In November 1939 German planners called for " the complete destruction " of all Poles and resettlement of the land by German colonists . In a secret memorandum dated 25 May 1940 , Himmler stated that it was in German interests to foster divisions between the ethnic groups in the East . He wanted to restrict non-Germans in the conquered territories to schools that would only teach them how to write their own name , count up to 500 , and obey Germans . The Polish political class was the target of a campaign of murder ( Intelligenzaktion and AB-Aktion )
Intelligenzaktion
Intelligenzaktion
The Holocaust