Hans Frank, Governor General of Poland (b/w photo)

From the beginning, the invasion of Poland by Nazi Germany was intended as fulfillment of the plan described by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf as the Lebensraum. The occupation goal was to turn former Poland into ethnically German living space, as well as to exploit the material resources of the country and to maximize the use of Polish manpower as a reservoir of slave labour. The Polish nation was to be effectively reduced to the status of Serfdom, its political, religious and intellectual leadership destroyed. One aspect of German policy in conquered Poland aimed to prevent its ethnically diverse population from uniting against Germany.