Postcard

Held by

Montreal Holocaust Museum via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)

Dates

July 1, 1946 (indexed as 1946)

Level

item

Extent

Postcard : paper : Printed, handwritten : Ink : beige, green, red ; Ht: 3 1/2 in. x W: 5 1/2 in.

Scope & content

1 page, double-sided. Beige postcard with 50-cent Belgian postal stamp with heraldic lion printed at top right corner of verso. Handwritten on both sides in green ink. Sent to T. Berkowicz in Brussels from M. Szynberg in Selzaete (Zelzate). He writes that he was happy to learn that Mr. Berkowicz was in Brussels, and that he, his wife and his young son have been back since February. He adds that David is missing, that he was deported from Drancy on March 4, 1943 and has not been heard from since. Mr. Szynberg writes that he was also deported in September 1942, and he was extremely lucky to be able to come back from there and reunite with his family. 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.

Location

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Genre / form

textual record

In the picture

DocumentEnvelopeHandwrittenLetterPostage StampPostcardPostmarkSignatureTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.

Text in the image

BELGIË-BELGIQUEPOSTKAART - CARTE POSTALE50cBELGIE BELGIQUENaam en adres van de afzenderNom et adresse de l'expéditeurM. SzyjnbergSelzaeteMonsieurT. Berkowicz28, rue de VeniseIxellesBruxellesSzynbergZelzaeteOn n'omettra pas de vousle signaler, et on pourracauser longuement.De votre part si vous avezl'occasion de venir à Selzaetenous voir cela nous fera plaisir.Ma femme se joint à moipour vous transmettre nosRead automatically; may contain mistakes.

Language

French

Harvested

2026-10-19T03:21:16Z · source datestamp n/a · andornot

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_6.jpg
• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_6b.jpg