Postcard

Held by

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

Dates

1939-July 24, 1942 (indexed as 1939–1942)

Level

item

Extent

Postcard : Paper : Printed, Handwritten : Ink : Beige, Grey, Red, Black ; Ht: 4 1/4 in. x W: 5 3/4 in.

Scope & content

1 page, double-sided. On verso, red-and-white postal stamp affixed at top right corner with image of Marshal Philippe Pétain and value of 1F20. Postcard sent from Pinkas Mieses, in Les Mées, to Chana Bercowicz, then undergoing treatment for breast cancer in Toulouse. Narrative: 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. It is likely that Pinkas was her brother-in-law, the husband of Esther Mieses. He was deported from Drancy to Auschwitz on August 20, 1942, where he was murdered. Esther and her sons Heinrich and Hermann were also deported to Auschwitz, on September 4 of the same year. They were murdered there. 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. 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

EnvelopeHandwrittenHospitalLetterPostcardPostmarkSpeechStampTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.

Text in the image

CARTE POSTALEMARSEILLE GAREBOUCHES DU RHONE27 · VII 1942EXPÉDITEURDESTINATAIREMP. Miess G.T.E 702Les MéesBses AlpesMmeBerkowiczHospice La Grave CRAEchambre 8ToulouseHospice La Grave CRAPMieses G.T.E 7021f20Read automatically; may contain mistakes.

Language

German

Harvested

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

Digital objects at the source

• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_22.jpg
• imageOpen original at source ↗2005_1_22b.jpg