After the Soviet occupation of Bessarabia and Northern Bukovina in 1940, thousands of former teachers, doctors, office workers, and even better-to-do peasants from northern Bessarabia, thought to be hostile and dangerous to the Soviet regime, were gathered and deported in cattle cars to Siberia. Bălţi, as the most important railroad link in the north, served as a gathering point for this operation. The largest deportation occurred on 12–13 June 1941 from the Slobozia Railway Station. The local economy (numerous small factories and shops) was largely dismantled during the evacuation; several factories and buildings were blown up.