Print - The Canadian Jewish Heritage Network - Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives

Physical Description: Certificate : Paper : Printed, Typed : Ink : Beige, Purple, Black ; Ht: 5 1/4 in. x W: 8 1/4 in.

Physical Description: Certificate : Paper : Printed, Typed : Ink : Beige, Purple, Black ; Ht: 5 1/4 in. x W: 8 1/4 in.

Notes: 1 page, single-sided. Folded once vertically. Document issued by the Toulouse Regional Anti-Cancer Centre (trad.), attesting that Mrs. Chana Berkowicz, living in Bernac-Dessus, is suffering from a malignant tumour in her breast and needs constant care and close medical supervision. Narrative: Chana (Chane, Annie) (Trompeter) Berkowicz was the mother of the donor, Jack (Jacques) 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. Tuwja (Tuwyas, Tuwia, Tuvia, Tobias) Bercowicz (Berkowicz) was the donor's father. 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. 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.