Berkovics Family
Like the vast majority of Hungarian Jews, the Berkovics family probably emigrated across the Carpathian Mountains from Galicia (see map at right) in the late 18th or early 19th centuries. In 1785-87 there were fewer than 2,800 Jews in all of Szatmar megye (county). By 1828, the county’s population was close to 7,000 and there were six Jewish families among the 99 households living in Avas Ujvaros, a small community in the eastern part of the county, where the family eventually settled. There was no Berko or Berkovics. living there in 1828 but there was one Berko enumerated among the 74 households in Vamfalu (now Vama) just seven kilometers from Avas Ujvaros.
By 1848, there were four Berko households in Vamfalu, 3 in Felsofalu, and one in Sarkoz, all places in the area that are associated with the family. The name Berkovics doesn’t appear at all in the 1848 Census from this part of Szatmar megye suggesting that households were still using patronymics (i.e. son of Berko) rather than more contemporary surnames. (Avas Ujvaros is on the lower left of the 1910 map below. Vamfalu /Vama is to the east and south of Avas Felsofalu, now Negresti Oas, Romania. The Jewish stars mark the location of Jewish cemeteries.)
My great-grandfather Moshe Gershon Berkovics was probably born in Szatmar megye.. Based on the age of Moshe Gershon’s oldest known child and the customs of the times, he was probably born about 1850 and his wife Shprinze Grosz was likely a year or two younger. From the inscription on their headstones in the Jewish cemetery in Orasu Nou, we know that Moshe Gershon's father was Shmuel Berkovics and Shprinze’s father was Yechiel.
Moshe Gershon and Shprinze had eight children who lived to adulthood. My grandmother Zlate (Lottie), born on May 15, 1878, was probably the third of the Berkovics children. Chana Sheindel (Jennie), the oldest, was born in 1874, Dovid Leib (David) in 1876, Mihaly (Max) in 1884, Zalman Leib (Lajos or Ludvik) in 1885, Shlima (Jolan or Juliana) in 1886 or 1887, Hani (Anna) in 1888 or early 1889, and Sussa Malka (Szerena) in 1889. Shprinze and Sussa Malka are in the picture below right, which was probably taken between 1905 and 1910. According to Shprinze's son Ernie, the bearded man is Moshe Gershon's brother Velvel.
By 1848, there were four Berko households in Vamfalu, 3 in Felsofalu, and one in Sarkoz, all places in the area that are associated with the family. The name Berkovics doesn’t appear at all in the 1848 Census from this part of Szatmar megye suggesting that households were still using patronymics (i.e. son of Berko) rather than more contemporary surnames. (Avas Ujvaros is on the lower left of the 1910 map below. Vamfalu /Vama is to the east and south of Avas Felsofalu, now Negresti Oas, Romania. The Jewish stars mark the location of Jewish cemeteries.)
My great-grandfather Moshe Gershon Berkovics was probably born in Szatmar megye.. Based on the age of Moshe Gershon’s oldest known child and the customs of the times, he was probably born about 1850 and his wife Shprinze Grosz was likely a year or two younger. From the inscription on their headstones in the Jewish cemetery in Orasu Nou, we know that Moshe Gershon's father was Shmuel Berkovics and Shprinze’s father was Yechiel.
Moshe Gershon and Shprinze had eight children who lived to adulthood. My grandmother Zlate (Lottie), born on May 15, 1878, was probably the third of the Berkovics children. Chana Sheindel (Jennie), the oldest, was born in 1874, Dovid Leib (David) in 1876, Mihaly (Max) in 1884, Zalman Leib (Lajos or Ludvik) in 1885, Shlima (Jolan or Juliana) in 1886 or 1887, Hani (Anna) in 1888 or early 1889, and Sussa Malka (Szerena) in 1889. Shprinze and Sussa Malka are in the picture below right, which was probably taken between 1905 and 1910. According to Shprinze's son Ernie, the bearded man is Moshe Gershon's brother Velvel.
There were several Grosz families in Avas Ujvaros and Avas Felso Falu (now Negresti Oas, Romania) that may be related but no records have yet turned up indicating which Shprinze Grosz married Moshe Gershon Berkovics.
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