Transport from Dubienka, Hrubieszow, Lublin, Poland to Sokal, Sokal, Lwow, Poland on 01/12/1939

Dubienka is a town located 30 kilometers south of Lublin and some 31 kilometers north of the County capital Hrubieszów. In 1921, the town's Jewish population numbered 1,204 souls out of a total population of 2,964.^[1]

Shortly after the outbreak of WWII and invasion of Poland by Germany and Soviet Union, Dubienka was briefly occupied by Soviet troops. When the borders between Germany and the Soviet Union were finalized based on the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Dubienka was included in the German controlled territories as part of Hrubieszów County (Kreis) of Lublin District (Distrikt) within the General Government. As in other villages and towns in the area, some of the Jewish residents joined the Soviet troops and crossed over into the Soviet-controlled territory. Their fate varied but many of these refugees survived the war.^[2] At the end of September, Dubienka was occupied by the Germans and remained under the German rule until the arrival of the Red Army in 1944.^[3]

Hrubieszów county bordered the Bug river which was the official natural border demarcating the end of the German controlled and the beginning of the Soviet controlled territory. The civil administration of Hrubieszow county, and especially its county commissioner (Kreishauptman) Gerhard Behrend came up with a ruthless idea of deporting the Jews by forced and deathly marches into the Soviet territory across the Bug river. As early as fall 1939 they decided "to thin out" the Jewish population in his county. ^[4]...