The Life and Times of Fina Bercovitz

By Alain Jacques Henrard

The book is about Fina Bercovitz surviving all odds to survive World War 2.
She was Jewish. Jacques was NOT. This awesome true story comes from notes
that I found scattered all over the place.
What a story!
I don't want to give it away...So read it if you know what is good for you.
Alain Jacques Henrard

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Mar 22, 2023
• ISBN: 9781489746931

Alain Jacques Henrard

NA

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Alain Jacques Henrard.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means,

graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by

any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author

except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

LifeRich Publishing

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.liferichpublishing.com

844-686-9607

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in

this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views

expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the

views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4692-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-4693-1 (e)

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 03/22/2023

CONTENTS

Chapter 1   Nucourt

Chapter 2   Paris

Chapter 3   Back to Paris - Fina

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7   1945

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10   Beginning Life in America

Chapter 11

Chapter 12   1966

Chapter 13

Epilogue

This book is dedicated to the memory of my mother, Fina Bercovitz.

Her courage and dedication to her family are unparalleled. What

she withstood, with the daunting challenges that she faced should

serve as an inspiration to us all, no matter what our race or religion.

I would also like to dedicate the book to my wife, Gale. She is the

source of my inspiration. Without her love and support, I probably

wouldn’t be here to share this unbelievable story with you.

To my two dearly departed sisters, Frances and Martine.

And to my dear remaining sister, Chrissy.

This is a true story.

This book is written directly by my mother,

Fina. In her own words. Literally.

CHAPTER 1

37527.png

Nucourt

W hen my mother and I first arrived in Nucourt, a few hours by train from Paris, I was but a four-year-old tot. I immediately became very close to the farm animals. Amede, the rabbit, would often nuzzle and seem and seemed to understand me.

Martin, the donkey, and I really really had a special affinity and I loved to feed them both. Medor (Medallion) the dog followed me everywhere. There was also a bright-colored hen who seemed to lay a golden egg each day for me. Funny as it may sound, I looked forward with great delight to being surrounded by my great farm friends, Amede, Martin, Medor, and the others whose names I have since forgotten.

Unfortunately, I wasn’t fond of the older couple, Pepe and Memee, amazingly enough, after all these years. They were taking care of me for the money, and gifts my mother gave them. I never had any attachment, as a matter of fact, I was completely indifferent to them, a just return for what I was receiving from them.

I was not annoyed or sad about this. Only when Pepe began to want to do things, like telling me if I didn’t take off his pants, he would not permit me to go and play. I kept promising that I would if he would let me go and play first. The old fool had no choice, and I led him on like this the whole summer. Towards the end, he exposed himself to me and I went to Memee, crying that he had hurt me and that I would tell my mother. Somehow, I was ashamed, and could not tell the woman what he had done. She was looking me over to see where I had been hurt and told me that I was a liar, a comedienne and that she too would tell my mother that I was giving her trouble. By then, the charm of Nucourt had vanished and it was the last summer I ever spent there.

CHAPTER 2

37525.png

Paris

A t that point, my brother Maurice, went for his military service which had been postponed several years due to the fact that he was head of the household and our main source of income. He had taught Charles the furrier trade but my mother had a terrible time as he was not reliable and she was afraid that they were going to lose their accounts. Meanwhile, I went to school and did very well sometimes or extremely badly other times. This had always been my pattern at school. I guess I was suffering from a sense of disorder in my family life and I was sensitive to it; of course, I was lazy but especially not consistently motivated.

I remember some months being first in class; in France, we are graded by the total number of points in each subject and placed accordingly. So, in a class of thirty students, I was either 1st or 2nd or 29th or 30th. The principal claimed that she had never seen