Most were dumped into the General Government (central Poland), often in overcrowded transit camps with minimal food or shelter.

Following the Soviet invasion on September 17, 1939, the NKVD conducted four major waves of mass deportations from the eastern territories ( Kresy ).

From the start of the occupation, Germany aimed to "Germanize" the western and northern Polish territories (such as Greater Poland, Pomerania, and Upper Silesia) that were directly annexed into the Third Reich.

Estimates of total expulsions by Nazi Germany range from 1.7 million to nearly 2.5 million people.