During the joint German-Soviet invasion of Poland, which started World War II in September 1939, the town was invaded by Germany, and the "Einsatzgruppe I" entered the town on September 4, 1939, to commit various crimes against Poles. In March 1940, representatives of the Soviet NKVD and the Nazi Gestapo met for one week in Zakopane's Villa Tadeusz, to coordinate the pacification of resistance in Poland. Throughout World War II, Zakopane served as an underground staging point between Poland and Hungary.