During World War II, more than 116 thousand Poles left the Soviet Union during the evacuation of the Anders Army in 1941—1942. About 40 thousand of them were civilians, including at least 20 thousand children under the age of 18.
Women and children were deployed in the numerous settlements being established in Asia and Africa, as well as in Mexico and New Zealand. The largest centers for Polish children were to be found in, Mexico, India, South Africa, Iran, and New Zealand, where they lived to see the end of the war. Most of them have remained in exile since Poland became a communist satellite state of the Soviet Union after 1945.