In 1943, after the German forces sustained several losses on the Eastern Front, the course of the Second World War took a turn that set off first alarm bells and a state-organised fleeing began in Estonia. The first ones to leave were the Coastal Swedes, with permission from the German authorities and assistance from Sweden, and with them, a great number of Estonians left, using various means to escape. The relatively limited escape and evacuation turned into a mass exodus in the summer and autumn of 1944. In total, around 75 000-80 000 people left Estonia (both as a result of evacuation/fleeing to Germany as well as escaping to Finland and Sweden). The refugees included people from all social and age groups.