Where
Not on the map yet.
- Held by
- Montreal Holocaust Museum via Canadian Jewish Heritage Network (incl. Alex Dworkin Canadian Jewish Archives)
- Dates
- December 22, 1942 (indexed as 1942)
- Level
- item
- Extent
- Permit : Paper : Printed, Handwritten : Ink; Graphite Pencil : Beige, Black, Blue, Purple ; Ht: 5 3/8 in. x W: 8 1/4 in.
- Scope & content
- 1 page, double-sided. Folded once horizontally and once vertically. Document is a permit allowing Tuwyas Berkowicz to do agricultural work for Mr. Despalanque in Bernac-Dessus. Issued by 'Commissariat à la lutte contre le chomage' (Commission to Fight Unemployment, trad,). On verso, addresses and other illegible notes handwritten in pencil. 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
No place found in this description yet.
- Genre / form
- textual record
- In the picture
- DocumentFormGovernmentHandwrittenLetterMilitaryPrintedSealSignatureStampTagged automatically by a vision model; may contain mistakes.
- Text in the image
- COMMISSARIAT A LA LUTTECONTRE LE CHOMAGEGROUPEMENT DE T. E. N° 2525Groupe Départemental desHautes-PyrénéesVu à l'arrivéeLe MaireORDRE DE SERVICELe Travailleur Étranger BERKOWICZ Tuwyasest autorisé à travailler chez M Despulenqueà Bernac Dessuspour effectuer les travaux agricoles en coursIl devra rejoindre le Groupe une fois son travail fini ou sur mon ordre etsans préavis.A Bagnères le 22/xii 1942Le Chef du Groupe Départemental 525.Vu au départen direction du GroupeMINISTERE DU TRAVAILN° 525Le Commandant du GroupeRead 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_40.jpg