Polish culture during World War II was suppressed by the occupying powers of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union , both of whom was hostile to Poland 's people and cultural heritage . Policies aimed at cultural genocide resulted in the deaths of thousands of scholars and artists , and the theft and destruction of innumerable cultural artifacts . The " maltreatment of the Poles was one of many ways in which the Nazi and Soviet regimes had grown to resemble one another " , wrote British historian Niall Ferguson .