Deák documents that the expulsion of "colonists" was not realised as an arbitrary act of nationalists but that the Hungarian General Staff gave an order to expel all Slovak and Czech colonists on November 5, 1938. That also included their family members and descendants. On November 11, 1938, the Hungarian General Staff issued a new edict, which imposed measures against colonists, ordered their immediate expulsion and defined them as enemies of the state. The organised persecution of non-Hungarian population was based on those orders. Soldiers and police could freely perform home inspections without needing official authorisation and could also confiscate stocks of food, livestock and grain. The term "colonists" covered agricultural colonists but was interpreted by Hungarian government as any non-Hungarian population thar had settled in the concerning territories since 1918 for any reason. Exceptions were not allowed even for those who declared to have Hungarian nationality. Beside Slovaks, Moravians and Czechs, forced expulsion also affected Germans Forced expulsion was frequently preceded by arrest and imprisonment related to physical tortures. In others, it involved transportation to border with Czechoslovakia with military assistance.