The Volga German community came to include industrialists, scientists, musicians and architects, including those who built Saratov's universities and conservatories. After the beginning of the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Soviet government forcibly expelled the Volga Germans to Uzbekistan, Siberia and Kazakhstan (September 1941); few ever returned to the Volga region, even after rehabilitation. Others were expelled to western Europe after World War II ended in 1945.