Collection

Montreal Holocaust Museum

Description Level

Item

Material Type

textual record

Physical Description

Letter : Paper : Printed, Typed : Ink : Beige, Black ; Ht: 12 3/4 in. x W: 8 in.

Other Title Information

Documentary Artifact

Date

April 2, 1948

Physical Condition

Good

Language

English

Notes

1 page, single-spaced. Folded once vertically and three times horizontally. Document is a letter authorizing the emigration of the Berkowicz famiy, sent from the Emigration Service of the American Joint Distribution Committee from their Brussels office to the New York and Montreal offices. Letter states that Tuwia, Chana, Dorothée and Jacques will depart from Antwerp, Belgium, pass through New York, stay with Mrs. J. Allen in Halifax upon arrival in Canada, and then proceed to Montreal. 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.

2005.01.37

Name Access

Berkowicz, Jack

Places

Brussels, Belgium, Europe

Archival / Genealogical

Archival Descriptions

Repository

Montreal Holocaust Museum

Less detail