The Dorosic Hospital Fire

The tragedy that occurred on 29 April 1943, in the village of Dorosic (in the occupied territory of the Soviet Union, present-day Ukraine) is one of the darkest episodes in the history of the Hungarian labor service. A barracks full of Jewish labor servicemen recovering from typhus was set on fire by Hungarian gendarmes, and those who tried to escape were shot. Officially, 396 innocent people lost their lives in the fire. Some dispute that a massacre took place, describing the incident as an accident. According to this view, the fire may have been caused by the presence of flammable materials or explosives, and the guards allegedly attempted to help with the rescue.