many corrupt practices. The immigrant workers were poorly paid, exploited and – in practicality – totally unprotected. Nevertheless, the influx of candidates was always large and, in the eve of World War I, the number of immigrant workers exceeded 500,000 persons, 80% of them from the struggling Russian-controlled part of Poland. Approximately 200,000 Poles worked in the eastern provinces of Prussia among low living standards and intensive exploitation. A male worker could save 100-150 Marks per year, while a female worker could save 50-100 Marks per year at best. Until today, the "rugi pruskie" or the Prussian mass deportations, serve as Polish national symbol of gross injustice experienced by the Poles at the hands of the anti-Polish forces of Prussia, the German Empire, and Otto von Bismarck personally, during the time when Poland remained occupied. See also Germanisation Ostflucht References External links Sejmowe Koło Polskie wobec rugów pruskich, 3 V 1885 roku Prussian Partition Germany–Poland relations 1880s in Poland 1880s in Prussia Forced migration 1880s in the Russian Empire 19th-century Judaism Jewish German history Jewish Polish history Jews and Judaism in the Russian Empire Jewish Austrian history Ethnic cleansing in Europe