insisted that the border should be on the western Neisse. The Potsdam Conference At the Potsdam Conference the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Soviet Union placed the German territories east of the Oder-Neisse line (Poland referred to by the Polish communist government as the "Western Territories" or "Recovered Territories") as formally under Polish administrative control. It was anticipated that a final peace treaty would follow shortly and either confirm this border or determine whatever alterations might be agreed upon. The final agreements in effect compensated Poland for 187,000 km2 located east of the Curzon Line with 112,000 km2 of former German territories. The northerneastern third of East Prussia was directly annexed by the Soviet Union and remains part of Russia to this day. It was also decided that all Germans remaining in the new and old Polish territory should be expelled, to prevent any claims of minority rights. Among the provisions of the Potsdam Conference was a section that provided for the orderly transfer of German populations. The specific wording of this section was as follows: The Three Governments, having considered the question in all its aspects, recognize that the transfer to Germany of German populations, or elements thereof, remaining in Poland, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, will have to be undertaken. They agree that any transfers that take place should be effected in an orderly and humane manner. Expulsion of Germans after World War II The expulsion of Germans after World War II refers to the expulsion of German colonists and collaborationists from the former eastern territories of Germany, former Sudetenland and other areas across Europe in the first five years after World War II. It was the largest of a number of expulsions in various Central and Eastern European countries affecting a number of nationalities. The Big Three had agreed on a policy of expulsions, and the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia and Poland implemented the policy with American and British acquiescence. The policy had been agreed on by the Allies as part of the reconfiguration of postwar Europe. As the Red Army advanced towards Germany at the end of World War II, a considerable exodus of German refugees began from the areas near the front lines. Many Germans fled their areas of residence under vague and haphazardly implemented evacuation orders of the Nazi German government in 1943, 1944, and in early 1945, or based on their own decisions to