 Dismantling began in earnest in 1947 and ended with the demolition of furnaces and foundries.Salzgitter was flooded with forty four thousand German refugees from the East, unemployment exceeded 30%, and the British considered physically resettling the residents in fear of a Communist uprising.Of the thirty seven thousand displaced persons (mostly from Poland) working in Salzgitter in 1945, many refused to be resettled, and deportations continued until mid-1950s.