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Letter

https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn76227
Collection
Montreal Holocaust Museum
Description Level
Item
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
Letter : Paper : Handwritten : Ink; Graphite Pencil : Beige, Grey ; Ht: 6 5/8 in. x W: 5 1/8 in.
Date
May 8, 1946
Collection
Montreal Holocaust Museum
Description Level
Item
Material Type
textual record
Physical Description
Letter : Paper : Handwritten : Ink; Graphite Pencil : Beige, Grey ; Ht: 6 5/8 in. x W: 5 1/8 in.
Other Title Information
Documentary Artifact
Date
May 8, 1946
Physical Condition
Good
Language
French
Notes
1 page, double-sided. Folded once horizontally and once vertically. Letter to Tuwyas (Tobias) Bercowicz from R. Kinou ? in which sender expresses relief at hearing that addressee made it through the war. Sender also discusses how they and Joseph were ill because of overwork and 'the terrible emotions of the war', and left the hotel in December 1945. Sender gives news of son Max, who is getting married and becoming a librarian. Adds news of daughter Madeleine and her husband and daughter. Mentions 2-month trip in May 1940. Ends letter with information about where they are living and gives directions on how to get there. Narrative: Tuwja (Tuwyas, Tuwia, Tuvia, Tobias) Bercowicz (Berkowicz) was the father of the donor, Jack (Jacques) Berkowicz. Born in Vilna, Tuwyas immigrated to Belgium in 1933 and when Belgium fell to Nazi Germany in 1940, he fled to France, hoping to reach Morocco by boat from Marseilles. The donor's mother, Chana (Chane, Annie) (Trompeter) Berkowicz, born in Mielec, Poland, was living in Vienna, Austria with her parents and two sisters. In 1938, after the German annexation of Austria, the family fled, driving to France via Belgium. Tuwyas and Chana met in Lyon, France in 1941 and married. Their daughter Dorothée was born in 1942. The family attempted to flee France by boat in Marseilles, but were stopped by Vichy police. They fled Marseilles and went south, into the Pyrenees region, living in various small vilages. Their son Jack was born in Bernac-Dessus in 1944. The family survived the war and returned to Brussels from 1945-1948, and then immigrated to Canada with the help of the American Joint Distribution Committee. They were sponsored by Tuwyas' sister Luba, who was already living in Halifax. The Berkowicz family settled in Montreal.
Accession No.
2005.01.08
Name Access
Berkowicz, Jack
Places
Liège, Belgium, Europe
Archival / Genealogical
Archival Descriptions
Repository
Montreal Holocaust Museum
Images
Less detail