Berkowicz, Joseph

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BERKOWICZ, JOSEPH

BERKOWICZ, JOSEPH (Józef ; 1789–1846), Polish army officer, the son of Berek *Joselowicz. In 1809 he joined Napoleon's Polish Legion, and took part in the battle of Kock, where his father was killed. For his distinguished service in Napoleon's Russian campaign of 1812, in which he was severely wounded, Joseph was awarded two crosses for valor. Retiring because of his war injuries he was employed in forestry, becoming chief forester in various localities in Poland. At the time of the 1830–31 uprising he called upon the Jews to take up arms and fight for their Polish fatherland. After the Polish defeat, he left with his son Leon for France, where he lived in Besançon. He later moved to Liverpool, England, where he wrote a novel which he himself translated into English, Stanislaus or the Polish Lancer in the Suite of Napoleon… (published posthumously by his sons, 1846).

bibliography:

A. Kraushar, Syn Berka Joselowicza… (1889); E. Tuniński, Berek Joselewicz i jego syn (1909), 51–109; M. Balaban, in: Nowy Dziennik (April 12, 1933); Polski Słownik Biograficzny, 1 (1935), 454–5; A. Levinson, Toledot Yehudei Varshah (1953), 122–3.