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One family of Berkowitz are a Levite family from Kretchinef a town that was in the Austro Hungarian empire that is split on the rive between present day Romania and Ukraine (former Czechoslovakia too).
The original polish spelling is Berkowicz
One family immigrated to South Africa in the late 1800. They spell their name Berchowitz. Believe that they originated from Latvia. The original South African Berchowitz (Hyman) was married to a Kusner (Anna). She was apparently from Riga. The name Ber was given to the oldest son as a middle name. May be relevant.