The tide started to turn when the charter of the Nuremberg trials of German Nazi leaders declared forced deportation of civilian populations to be both a war crime and a crime against humanity, and this opinion was progressively adopted and extended through the remainder of the century.
Tendensen skiftede da man i forbindelse med Nürnberg-processen erklærede at tvungen deportation af civilbefolkninger både var en krigsforbrydelse og en forbrydelse mod menneskeheden, og denne holdning blev gradvis accepteret og udvidet igennem resten af århundredet.