Letter
https://www.cjhn.ca/link/cjhn76226
- Collection
- Montreal Holocaust Museum
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- textual record
- Physical Description
- Letter : Paper : Handwritten : Ink : Beige, Purple ; Ht: 10 3/4 in. x W: 8 3/4 in.
- Date
- June 10, 1946
- Collection
- Montreal Holocaust Museum
- Description Level
- Item
- Material Type
- textual record
- Physical Description
- Letter : Paper : Handwritten : Ink : Beige, Purple ; Ht: 10 3/4 in. x W: 8 3/4 in.
- Other Title Information
- Documentary Artifact
- Date
- June 10, 1946
- Physical Condition
- Good
- Language
- French
- Notes
- 1 page, double-sided. Letter to Tobias and Chana Berkowicz from J. Leumartin ? in Bernac-Dessus, France. The sender sends good wishes, mentions having received family photos and seeing that the children had grown since they left Bernac. The letter discusses continued rationing of bread, meat and wine, but adds that things always get worked out in the country. The weather and village life (mutual friends, births and marriages) are also discussed. 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.
- 2005.01.07
- Name Access
- Berkowicz, Jack
- Places
- Brussels, Belgium, Europe
- Archival / Genealogical
- Archival Descriptions
- Repository
- Montreal Holocaust Museum
Images
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