Given that the Second Polish Republic was a multicultural state , German policies and propaganda also sought to create and encourage conflicts between ethnic groups , fueling tension between Poles and Jews , and between Poles and Ukrainians . In Łódź , the Germans forced Jews to help destroy a monument to a Polish hero , Tadeusz Kościuszko , and filmed them committing the act . Soon afterward , the Germans set fire to a Jewish synagogue and filmed Polish bystanders , portraying them in propaganda releases as a " vengeful mob . " This divisive policy was reflected in the Germans ' decision to destroy Polish education , while at the same time , showing relative tolerance toward the Ukrainian school system . As the high @-@ ranking Nazi official Erich Koch explained , " We must do everything possible so that when a Pole meet a Ukrainian , he will be willing to kill the Ukrainian and conversely , the Ukrainian will be willing to kill the Pole . "