Transport from Dubienka, Hrubieszow, Lublin, Poland to Sobibor, Extermination Camp, Poland on 02/06/1942

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. However, when the borders between and 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. At the end of September, Dubienka was occupied again by the Germans and remained so until the arrival of the Red Army in 1944.^[2] Hrubieszów County bordered the Bug River, which was the official border demarcating the end of the German-controlled territory and the beginning of the Soviet-controlled territory.

As in other villages and towns in the area, due to the German occupation some of the Jews joined the withdrawing Soviet troops and crossed over into the Soviet-controlled territory.^[3] At one point, a ruthless idea of deporting the Jews by forced death-marches into Soviet territory across the Bug River was proposed by the civil administration of Hrubieszów County, and its Kreishauptman (County Commissioner), Gerhard Behrend. As early, as fall 1939, they decided to implement this method "to thin out" the Jewish population in Hrubieszów County.^[4]...