The Heuaktion (German: literally: harvesting of hay, or hay operation)[1] was a Nazi German World War II operation, in which 40,000 to 50,000 Polish children aged 10 to 14 were kidnapped by the German occupational forces and transported to Germany proper as slave labourers.[2] The term "heuaktion" was an acronym for homeless, parent-less and unhoused (heimatlos, elternlos, unterkunftslos, i.e.