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Established in 1943 and nicknamed "Osti", the Dorohucza Labor Camp -- just a few miles from Trawniki on the River Wieprz -- was established in the Lublin district. It was a peat-cutting camp where the production of the peat could be used as fuel by the Waffen S.S. Another labor camp in the Lublin district was called Dorohusk, which was located between Chelm and Dubienka and was an hour east. It is unclear what took place at the Dorohusk labor camp.
The deportations to Dorohucza began in March, 1943 when the labor camp became operational. About half of the slave laborers at the camp were Polish Jews and the other half were Dutch Jews. The first group of Dutch Jews arrived at Dorhucza on March 13, 1943. A transport of 81 Dutch Jews from Sobibor Death Camp arrived at Dorohucza on June 4, 1943. Three Dutch Jews -- Joop Wins, Leo de Vries, and Jules Schelvis were allowed to leave Dorohucza on June 13, 1943 -- were sent to Lublin and then later deported to Radom where they served as typists.
The Dorohucza labor camp consisted of three approximately equally large barracks, which were arranged in a U-shape around a square Appellplatz. On the fourth side of the Appellplatz was a barrack for S.S. personnel. This barrack was flanked left by a barrack for the Ukrainian guards and right by the kitchen. These three buildings were outside the fence. Inside this fence stood a watchtower. The turf fields were located across from the river.
The manager of the camp was S.S. Underscharfuhrer Schlimm. Ten Poles were employed as supervisors. Ukrainian guards were at the camp as well. A list of camp Nazis is available here.
A fluctuating number of Jewish men and women -- estimated to be 1,000 at a time -- were imprisoned at the camp as slave laborers. Prisoners would typically last a month or two and then die due to the harsh conditions. At Trawniki, every few days a selection was made by the S.S., and those "unfit" for work led to Sobibor or the Dorohucza peat mine.
The working and living conditions in the camp were extremely poor. A description from prisoner Jules Schelvis:
"In Dorohucza, we lacked the most basic amenities. The inmates who were there were sleeping in dilapidated barracks. The roof had large gaps, so that lying on the bare floor, one had an unobstructed view of the sky. There was always a penetrating stench of dirty clothes and unwashed bodies. Drinking water was not there. We were given black gunk they called coffee and soup, which consisted of half a liter of water with pieces of sauerkraut and an almost transparent slice of dog food. The water from the river that flowed past the camp was undrinkable. It was very dirty, because the river also served as a laundry room by the prisoners when they unsuccessfully tried to get rid of their lice after work."
In summer, 1943, 7,000 cubic yards of peat were cut and netted a profit of 265,000 zlotys for the German murderers.
Jews in the Lublin district were all murdered in the Aktion Erntefest on November 3-4, 1943. The Dorohucza Jews were murdered on November 3, 1943. Another source indicated that in October or November of 1943, some of the remaining prisoners at Dorohucza were sent away to two locations: Treblinka Death Camp and another undisclosed place. Sobibor was much closer to Dorohucza than was Treblinka. It is believed that the Jews at Dorohucza were primarily murdered on November 3, 1943.
"In Memoriam Lezecher", a book, contains names of 144 Dutch Jews murdered during the Aktion Erntefest in Dorohucza. Two other sources about the camp include: Schelvis, Jules. "Vernichtungslager Sobibor" (Metropol Verlag, Berlin, 1998) and Schelvis, Jules. "Binnen de poorten, 7e druk" (De Bataafsche Leeuw, Amsterdam, 2003).