 Complete the following phrase:  During World War II, the Soviet Union initiated a policy of population transfer of ethnic minorities. Tens of thousands of Armenians were deported to Siberia in the process, followed by the further deportation of Armenians and Hamshenis to Central Asia. Meanwhile, an estimated 300500,000 Armenians were sent to fight on the Eastern Front, almost half of whom did not return. To revitalize the countrys population, members of the Armenian diaspora were invited to repatriate the Armenian SSR, resulting in the resettlement of hundreds of thousands of Armenian immigrants throughout the country. These immigrants soon fell victim to discrimination by the native population as well as the Soviet government, which targeted many for deportation to Siberia and Central Asia. This went on until the Khrushchev Thaw, following the 