In 1944, the entire population of Chechens and Ingush was deported after rebelling against Soviet rule. Large numbers of people who were not deemed fit for transport were 'liquidated' on the spot, and the adverse situation with transport and the stay in Siberia caused many deaths as well. According to internal NKVD data, a total of 144,704 died in 1944–1948 alone (death rate of 23.5% per all groups). Authors such as Alexander Nekrich, John Dunlop and Moshe Gammer, based on census data from the period estimate a death toll of about 170,000–200,000 among Chechens alone, thus ranging from over a third of the total Chechen population that was deported to nearly half dying during those 4 years (rates for other groups for those four years hover around 20%). All traces of them in the city, including books and graveyards, were destroyed by the NKVD troops. The act was recognized by the European Parliament as an act of genocide in 2004.