The first '' Volksdeutsche '' to exit Russian territories were the Black Sea Germans and those from around Leningrad . They were resettled and/or evacuated already in 1942 – 43 , partly to Greater Poland ( then '' Reichsgau Wartheland '' ) and partly to Germany proper . In December 1943 the city of Berdychiv was evacuated by the Reich Germans , the German '' Volksdeutschen '' , agencies of the civil government , the government of the country , and the able-bodied population . Because of the provisions of the Yalta Agreement , all Soviet citizens in Germany at war 's end had to be repatriated . About 200,000 Soviet Germans , resettled during the war in Poland by the Nazis , were deported by the Soviet forces and sent to Forced settlements in the Soviet Union in Siberia and Central Asia From Slovakia 70,000 - 120,000 Germans were evacuated at the end of 1944 and the beginning of 1945 . Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Germans panicked and fled to the west in 1945 , particularly from East Prussia , attempting to seek safety within parts of Germany not yet occupied . Nazi propaganda widely publicized the details of the Soviet atrocities , such as the Nemmersdorf massacre of October 1944 , in an attempt to strengthen German morale . The Soviet propaganda machine ( including Ilya Ehrenburg ) encouraged a harsh and vengeful attitude toward the Germans . While advancing toward the West , soldiers of the Red Army committed a variety of atrocities , most notably rape , mutilation , murder and looting
Nemmersdorf massacre
Nemmersdorf massacre
German evacuation from Central and Eastern Europe