 The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk, signed in March 1918, provided a free-of-charge repatriation of civil prisoners, but the process was delayed due to the Russian Revolution and the Russian Civil War.Generally, the deportees returned in 1919–1921.Activists noticed the deportees and their deplorable conditions at the train stations, primarily in Vilnius, and organized help – provided food, clothing, exchanged German marks to Russian rubles, gave them pre-addressed envelopes so that they could mail it from their destination thus providing information on their location.