The National Socialist People’s Welfare organization [Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt or NSV] started the “Children to the Countryside” program [Kinderlandverschickung or KLV] in 1934. Each year, tens of thousands of city children were brought to the countryside for stays of several weeks. The idea was to offer them a temporary escape from the health-related and social dangers of the urban environment. The “Extended Children to the Countryside” program, an initiative organized by the Hitler Youth [Hitler-Jugend], placed children ages 11 to 14 in KLV camps, often for several months at time. Removed from the influence of their parents, the children who participated in these programs were totally exposed to National Socialist indoctrination and education. By the end of the war, over two million children had taken part in them. After 1940, the NSV focused mainly on evacuating mothers and children from cities threatened by air attacks. The evacuees were taken in by rural host and foster families.