During World War II some 70,000 Finnish children (Finnish: sotalapset, the 'war children' Swedish: krigsbarn) were evacuated from Finland, chiefly to Sweden, but also to Norway and Denmark. Most were evacuated during the Continuation War (1941–1944) to ease the situation for their parents who set out to rebuild their homes in the re-conquered Karelia returning from the 1940 evacuation of Finnish Karelia. The first surge of evacuees arrived, however, during the Winter War when the Finns had reasons to fear a humanitarian catastrophe following the expected Soviet occupation.