Tag Archives: Austrian

Faces of the First Red Scare

As part of the ongoing research for my book on the global history of immigrant radicals who were deported during America’s First Red Scare, I have posted brief profiles of 836 (and counting) individual deportees I have identified. This list is a work in progress, and entries are being added updated as I obtain additional information.

Who is included:

This list includes radicals and suspected radicals who were deported between 1918 (following America’s entrance into the First World War) and 1925, when the last of the foreign-born radicals arrested between 1917 and 1920 were expelled, some after serving prison sentences or being interned as “enemy aliens.” It includes both those who were deported by government order and those who were ordered deported but “voluntarily departed” at their own expense with the government’s consent (both categories were included in US government deportation statistics). It does not include those who fled the country to avoid arrest or deportation. It includes both individuals deported for belonging to legally-defined “anarchistic classes,” and others who were suspected of radicalism but deported on other grounds (most commonly for entering the country without inspection or being retroactively deemed “likely to become a public charge” at the time of their entry).

This is not a complete list. In the fiscal years (June-July) 1918-1926, the United States deported 979 aliens as “anarchists,” and an unknown number of additional radical immigrants under other statutes. The largest single group of deportees, composed of 242 alleged radicals (as well as seven unrelated deportees) departed on the USAT Buford on December 21, 1919. However, it appears that no complete list of Red Scare deportees was produced by either the Bureau of Immigration or the Bureau of Investigation. I have instead had to rely on partial lists and mentions of individual cases included in these organizations’ files, congressional testimony, radical publications, newspaper reports, and other sources.

How to use this site:

Profiles have been posted in small batches. They are organized in alphabetical order by last name, followed by alternate spellings and pseudonyms in parentheses. (The Cyrillic spellings of Russian names are generally my best guess; American sources from the era were wildly inconsistent in their spellings of such names. The same is true of the transliteration of Chinese names in the Roman alphabet.) You can also browse the Index of Names.

Birth years are often approximate, usually having been calculated from an individual’s age at the time of their examination by immigration authorities, and some may therefore be off by a year.

You can search by individuals’ nationalities (country of birth and, in some cases, ethnicity [i.e. Jewish, Lithuanian, etc.]) by using the tags above.

Occupations describe the individuals’ employment in the US, not necessarily the work they engaged in before arrival or after their deportation.

Political affiliations represented include the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the anarcho-syndicalist Union of Russian Workers of the United States and Canada (URW); the anarchist Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM); anarchists unaffiliated with larger organizations; the Communist Party of America (CP); the Communist Labor Party (CLP); the Socialist Party of America (SP); the Socialist Labor Party (SLP); and unaffiliated socialists. You can search by political affiliation by using the tags above.

You may also use the “Search” box at the top of the page to look for individual names, locations, etc.

The main sources used for compiling these profiles are case files from the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Record Group 85, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC; the Old German Files (OG) and Bureau Section Files (BS) of the Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Record Group 65, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD (as digitized at fold3.com); and (for Italians) the Casellario Politico Centrale (CPC), Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Rome, Italy.

A special thanks to Molly Thacker and Brooke Thompson, who photographed hundreds of INS files for me; Malcolm Archibald, who has translated a number of Russian-language sources; D.J. Alperovitz, who has provided photographs of several IWW members; and the dozens of other archivists, translators, activists, and colleagues who have helped me locate, acquire, and read material from across the globe while undertaking this research.

Finally, if you have additional information about any of the deportees, or spot an error, please contact me!

Bileski to Bogen

Harry Bileski

Deported to Austria May 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of radical deportees in INS file 54325/36G

Mikhail Bilokumsky (Michael)

Born 1892, Andreevka, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Member, United Communist Party. Arrested January 1921 in Philadelphia during second Palmer Raids, and again April 1921 while handing out UCP May Day handbills with a friend. Ordered deported to Russia in August 1921 on basis of revolutionary content of those handbills; lost Supreme Court challenge in 1923 (United States ex rel. Bilokumsky v. Tod, 263 U.S. 149), by which time the Soviet Union no longer accepted deportees from US. Instead, a passport was obtained from a New York representative of the “Ukrainian Diplomatic Mission,” an anti-Soviet self-proclaimed government in exile not recognized by the United States or Ukraine. A Bureau of Immigration board of review ruled in January 1924 that Bilokumsky be released on bond because “the passport cannot be used…and in order to effect deportation a passport must be had from the Ukrainian Soviet representative which is not practicable at this time.” But these instructions were ignored; on May 24, 1924 he was deported via Switzerland to the Russian border, where he may have been turned away; rumored to have been left in Romania, prompting the Communist newspaper Novy Mir to protest that if Bilokumsky was left stranded in a “country that is hostile to Russia he will either be imprisoned or murdered.” He was last reported to be “stranded and starving in Vienna.” No further information of his fate was found.

INS file 55009/76

See also: Kansas State News (Topeka KS), August 29, 1924

_________ Bjorkman

IWW member deported October 28, 1919. No further information found.

Included on list of IWW prisoners and deportees in One Big Union Monthly, March 1920

Juan Blanco

Deported IWW member. No further information found.

See: La Union del Marino, February 1921

Catherine Hartog Bloom

Born 1883, Hoogwoud, The Netherlands. Housewife. Migrated to US 1913. Not radical before arrival; joined Socialist Party circa 1915 and was treasurer of her SP local in Chicago; transferred to Ninth Ward branch of Communist Party of America in October 1919. Husband Nick Bloom “in the building trades”; owned home in Chicago, which they intended to sell so he could return to The Netherlands with her. Deported June 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54861/120; FBI file OG 381560

Sergey Bobkov (Сергей Бобков, Serge Bobkoff or Babkoff)

Born 1898, Moscow, Russia. Carpenter, migrated to US 1914. Member and delegate of the Seattle branch of the Union of Russian Workers. After his brother, Feodor, died in Seattle in 1919, he became the sole supporter of Feodor’s sick wife and daughter. Arrested Seattle, December 1919. Deported January 1921.

INS file 54860/431; FBI file 388847

Sevastyan Bogdanovich (Севастьян Богданович, Sebastian aka Sam)

Born 1892, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1915. Union of Russian Workers. Arrested March 1920, Baltimore, after “nearly caused a riot” by giving pro-Bolshevik speech in front of Holy Rosary Church. Deported February 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

FBI file OG 384761

Xenov Bogen (Зенов Боген, Zenow/Zenov Bogen)

Born 1893, Korets, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Joined Union of Russian Workers early 1919. Arrested Hartford, Connecticut, during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/207

Brodya to Buhay

Frank Brodya (Бродя, Frank Brodia, Frank Broida, aka P. Broido)

Born 1882, Russia. Blacksmith. Served five years in Russian army. Wife and three children in Russia. Migrated to US 1913; already an anarcho-syndicalist at that time. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Pittsburgh and secretary of his branch. Cooperated with Frank Belesta in campaign for a general strike of American workers “to enforce the lifting of the blockade against Russia.” Local immigration inspector described him as “intelligent and I consider him one of the most dangerous Russians in the Pittsburgh district.” His original deportation warrant erroneously listed his country of citizenship as Italy. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/89

See also: New-York Tribune, October 4, 1919

Abe Brook (Эйб Брук, Abe Bruk/Brooks/Brock/Bruke, Obe Bruk)

Image result for "Abe brooks" + buford

Born 1893, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Jewish. Migrated to US 1914. Member of the Brooklyn branch of the Union of Russian Workers (but denied this in interrogation). Married Clara Kessler, also an anarchist, circa 1918. Arrested in New York October 1919 while organizing protest of US blockade of Russia, and again during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Clara Brook led protest upon learning of the deportations; petitioned to be deported herself to join her husband. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/273

Ivan Nicholaevich Brunert (Иван Брунерт, John Brunert/Brunett)

Born 1869, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Bookkeeper; tailor. Wife and two sons in Kiev. Migrated to US 1912. Joined Branch no. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in Baltimore in 1918, and served as its financial secretary. Former member of an IWW branch of Polish tailors, and member of Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America in 1919. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/109

Ivan Bubenko (aka John Bubenko)

Born 1884, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Wife and child in Russia. Migrated to US 1912 (via Canada) to avoid military service. Joined Socialist Party of America 1918, then transferred to Russian Branch no. 3 of Communist Party of America in Detroit. “Voluntary departure” October 1920. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54860/22; FBI file BS 202600-712-1

Anton Budkowsky (Antoni Buoty/Buotv; Butkocky; Butkockery; Butkowski)

Born 1884, Pružany, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Wife and son in Russia. Migrated to US 1914 (via Canada, without inspection). Joined Union of Russian Workers in Detroit in 1917. Arrested July 1918 during scuffle between authorities and Russian radicals attending picnic. Told immigration inspectors “I am a sympathizer of the anarchists, but I am not an anarchist…I believe in their teachings.” “Voluntary departure” January 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54554/23

Fedor Buhay (Frank Bohai)

Born 1893, Russia. At age three family moved to Galicia in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Belarusian (“Ruthenian”). Machinist; Russian-speaker. Migrated to US circa 1910. Joined Communist Party of America in Buffalo. Deported to Austria, April 1920. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54809/427; FBI file OG 382147

Bukhanov to Butskevich

Timofey Pavlovich Bukhanov (Тимофей Павлович Буханов, Thomas P. Bukhanov, Buchanov or Bukanoff, aka “Tommy the Kid”)

Born 1902, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine). In 1909 he and his sister joined their mother, Alexandra Nikiforovna Bukhanova, in US. Graduated high school in Manhattan in 1918; laborer. Nephew of Union of Russian Workers activist (and fellow deportee) Peter Bianki. Secretary of the Greenpoint, Brooklyn branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919, and again December 1919. Deported on the Buford; youngest deportee aboard (just seventeen years old). On voyage contracted a fever that resulted in temporary deafness. 1920 joined Union of Russian Anarchist Workers Repatriated from America, formed by Hyman Perkus, which critically supported the Bolshevik dictatorship as a temporary necessity. Arrested 1923 during a crackdown on anarchists. Married 1930s. 1937 graduated from Leningrad Industrial Institute with a degree in metallurgy. Assigned to a factory in Voronezh, where joined by mother, wife, and children. Arrested July 1938 and sentenced to five years in a forced labor camp, where he died November 1942.

INS file 54709/647; FBI file OG 382170

See also: Alexander Berkman, “The Log of the Transport Buford,” Liberator, April 1920; Victor Serge, Anarchists Never Surrender: Essays, Polemics, and Correspondence on Anarchism, 1908–1938; http://visz.nlr.ru/person/show/264430; http://visz.nlr.ru/person/book/t12/0/350

Alexander Bukhovetsky (Александра Буховецкого, Alexander Bukovetsky, aka Felix/Feliks Konosevich/Konossevich, Феликс Коносевич)

Born 1886, Ekaterinoslav, Russia (present-day Dnipro, Ukraine). etalworker. Joined Socialist-Revolutionary Party as a youth; involved in 1905 revolution. Married (wife named Frances [Frantsyska?]) with daughter. Migrated with family to Canada 1908, where son born. Family lived and moved between US and Canada repeatedly. Became anarchist in Ontario. Arrested March 1918 after giving radical speech in Timmins, Ontario, but charges dropped. 1919 migrated to US with family. Machinist at Ford Motor Company. Member of Union of Russian Workers in Detroit (in interrogation denied membership, but admitted to organizing URW branches in Jackson and Kalamazoo, Michigan, and lecturing for other branches). Arrested Detroit. During his detainment, Frances diagnosed with tuberculosis and family “Was dependent upon the charity of friends for support.” At family’s request, deported February 26, 1921 with wife and two children, William and Violet/Valentina (as immigrants who entered the US illegally from Canada and were “likely to become a public charge”). Upon arrival in Moscow with his family, arrested and imprisoned as a supporter of Nestor Makhno; released 1921. Frances, with the aid of Emma Goldman and others, obtained permission for the family to emigrate to Germany “[a]fter beating on many doors for six months”; they subsequently migrated to Canada again and settled in Windsor, and remained active in the Russia-speaking anarchist movement. Frances died 1935; Alexander (under the name “Felix Konosevich”) died 1954.

INS file 54709/467

See also: Suzanne Elizabeth Orr, “Deporting the Red Menace: Russian Immigrants, Progressive Reformers, and the First Red Scare in Chicago, 1917-1920” (PhD diss., University of Notre Dame, 2010); National Popular Government League, To the American People: Report Upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice; Vadim Kukushkin, From Peasants to Labourers: Ukrainian and Belarusan Immigration from the Russian Empire to Canada; Emma Goldman, Living My Life; http://monde-nouveau.net/IMG/pdf/Repression_de_l_anarchisme_en_Russie_mis_en_page.pdf; Delo Truda-Probuzhdenie, January-April 1954 (with thanks to Malcolm Archibald for finding and translating this source)

Mikhail Bushanowits (Michael)

Deported to Russia, January 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Ivan J. Busija (aka John J. Busija)

Busija’s Communist Party membership card

Born 1888, Austria-Hungary (in present-day Croatia); Italian speaker. Migrated to US 1908. Machinist at Westinghouse. Joined East Pittsburgh’s South Slavic Branch No. 5 of the Communist Party of America in October 1919. Arrested Decembrer 27, 1919, January 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia via Greece June 1920. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54908/279; FBI file OG 387246

Paul Bussert

Born 1885, Germany. Sailor; laborer. Migrated to US 1906. Joined IWW 1916. Arrested Walla Walla, Washington; trove of IWW literature found in his room. Deemed “above the average in intelligence”; interned as an “enemy alien” at Fort Douglas, Utah. “Voluntary departure” September 1919. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54379/52

William Butrimuk (aka Basil Warseleideuk, aka William Novick)

Born 1894, Russia. Autoworker. Migrated to US 1913. Member, Communist Party of America in Detroit. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntary departure” via Canada, October 1920.

FBI file BS 202600-1379-1

Mikhail Demyanovich Butskevich (Михаил Демьянович Буцкевич, Michael Deminavich Butzkevich)

Butskevich’s URW membership card

Born 1893, Russia. Migrated to US 1913. Joined Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/382

Hajduk to Hicke

Alfons Hajduk (Alfonso; Alfonse; Hajdak; Haiduk; Hieduk; Hyduk)

Hajduk’s URW membership card

Born 1886, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Polish. Window cleaner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and child in Russia. Joined Union of Russian Workers in Newark. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/357

Onofry Halevich

Communist Party of America member. Deported June 1920 to either Austria or Yugoslavia. No further information found.

Included on lists of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G and FBI file BS 202600-33

Vazil Haluszak (Basil; William Halussosek)

Communist Party of America member. Deported March 1920 to Galicia. No further information found.

Included on lists of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G and FBI file BS 202600-33

Peter Hancharuk

“Voluntarily departed” to Russia sometime between December 20, 1919 and February 2, 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Stanley Haranin (B. Haranin)

Born Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania), 1894. Migrated to US 1913. Tailor. Joined the Socialist Party, then Milwaukee’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 2, 1920. Deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54809/152

Vasil Haritouchik (William Hatrinuk; Wasil Haryntoczyk; Chartonchak)

Born 1888, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. 1918 joined Socialist Party of America, and in 1919 transferred to Russian Branch no. 1 of the Communist Party of America, Detroit. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntarily departed” October 1920.

INS file 54859/735; FBI file OG 386253

Leo Haskevich (Leonti Hackwicz; Leonte Hackewicz; Leo Haskewich; aka Sittimikoff)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Not political in Russia; joined Union of Russian Workers in Akron, 1917. Involved in attempt to organize strike of Akron rubber workers; arrested December 1917. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54235/159

Ernest Emil Albert Heitmiller (E.A. Heitmiller)

Born 1887, Linden-Limmer, Germany. Sailor; lumber worker. Migrated to US 1914 (via Canada, without inspection). Joined IWW, for which he became a delegate and organizer. Arrested Seattle, February 1919. Deported January 1920. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54645/435; FBI file OG 347306

Petr Herasevich (or Gerasevich)

Born 1892, Kobryn, Russia (present-day Belarus). Pipe inspector. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and son in Russia. Joined Youngstown, Ohio branch of the Union of Russian Workers in January 1919. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. On strike from Youngstown Sheet & Tube when arrested. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/513

Jacob Heroch (or Horoch)

Deported to Russia December 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Christopher Hetagureff

Deported to Russia January 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

John Charles Hicke (John Kicke; aka Kurowsky)

Born 1882, Bukovina, Austria-Hungary (present-day Romania). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913 (via Canada). No apparent political affiliation. Arrested April 1918, in Oxford, Mississippi and interned as an “enemy alien” for nearly two years at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia, then detained by immigration authorities. Declared: “I am opposed to the Government of the United States and its peoples. I do not think its peoples are intelligent enough to govern themselves…I think the government should be overthrown and to accomplish this end every action would be justified.” However, later claimed this was simply a ploy to be deported as quickly as possible, as advised by Imre Guerry (Isso Gartner). Repeatedly wrote to US and Austrian officials to expedite his case. Deported to Romania June 1920. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54861/404

Isaacson to Jackson

Gussie Isaacson (Gussie Itzickson; née Denenberg)

Born 1895, Pinsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Housewife. Jewish. Migrated to US 1906. Became anarchist in New York; involved in Francisco Ferrer Center. Common-law marriage to fellow anarchist Jacob Isaacson. After Jacob was ordered deported in 1920, she swore an affidavit that “I am an anarchist, and a believer and advocate of anarchism,” in order to be deported along with him. “Voluntary departure” to England, June 1922, with Jacob. Returned to US circa 1924 under maiden name, Denenberg. Naturalized between 1930 and 1940. When interviewed in 1970s, stated: “Anarchism is a way of life, no matter what your view is of human nature. No authority over you, no slaved under you–that’s the anarchist life.” Died 1983.

INS file 54616/202

See also: Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America

Jacob (“Jack”) Isaacson (Jacob Itzickson; aka Jacob Denenberg)

Born 1896, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia). Laborer; locksmith; editor. Laborer, locksmith, editor. Jewish. Migrated to US 1908 with mother and sister. Became anarchist in New York; active in Francisco Ferrer Center, where he became known as “the Rabbi.” Helped publish Revolt (1916) and Freedom (1919). Common-law marriage to fellow anarchist Gussie Denenberg. Arrested May 1919 for antiwar article in Freedom, for which he took responsibility (although he was not the author). Indicted for violation of the Espionage Act (even though the war had ended); 1920 case dropped in exchange for a warrant of deportation. While on bail, he edited The Hotel Worker, organ of the syndicalist International Federation of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant, Lunchroom, Club, and Catering Industry. “Voluntary departure” to England, June 1922, with Gussie. Returned to US 1924 via Canada, under wife’s maiden name, Denenberg. Opened grocery store in Washington DC. Naturalized between 1930 and 1940, but this brought his true identity to the attention of immigration authorities, who hounded him and threatened him with deportation, driving him to commit suicide in 1946.

INS file 54616/202; FBI file OG 281175

See also: Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America

Andrew Iswashko

Deported to Austria, September 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

George Ivanov (Evenov)

Born 1889, Russia. Laborer. Member of the Communist Party in Bayonne, New Jersey. Deported December 1920. No further information found.

FBI file BS 202600-601

See also: Butte Daily Bulletin, December 29, 1920

Dmitry Ivanyuk (Дмитрий Иванюк, Dimitri Iwaniuk; aka James Nouvak)

One of the circulars Ivanyuk was distributing when arrested

Born 1882, Brodna, Russia (present-day Poland). Migrated to US 1912. Wife and child in Russia. Arrested April 1919 in Camden, New Jersey, for distributing radical circulars calling for a general strike on May First to free all political prisoners. His exact political affiliation is unclear. Arrested again November 1919 in Philadelphia. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/173

Jacob Jackotonsky (Jacknowsky; Jakov Zukatansky)

Born 1891, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Shoemaker. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1919. Literate and widely read. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/201

Herbert Harold Jackson

Born 1900, Hull, England. Sailor; laborer. Migrated to US 1917 (jumped ship). Joined IWW soon after arrival, in August 1917; arrested several times for IWW activities. “My reason for joining the I.W.W. was because I realized that I was not master of my own economic living and that I was opposed to being enslaved in the machine of production. I believe the worker is entitled to all he produces.” Arrested in Seattle, December 1918, for distributing IWW’s Defense Bulletin. Deported February 1919. Upon arrival to England, all IWW literature confiscated, placed under surveillance, and told not to speak in public. May 1921 migrated to Canada “intending in some way to reach the United States from there.” Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54547/15; FBI file OG 347558

See also: Rebel Worker, April 15, 1919

Krachie to Krutz

Pavel Krachie (Павел Крачий; Paul; Pawel; Krechin; Kreczin; Krachin)

Born 1891, Saratov, Russia. Served in Russian Army in the Caucuses. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers circa 1915. Employee of Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio Arrested December, 1917 for attempting to organize a strike of rubber workers; released on bail. Deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54235/158

Tikon Krasnov (Тихон Краснов; Tehon Krassnoff; Klassnoff; Rasnoff)

Born 1888, Kiev, Russia. Carpenter; miner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and three children in Russia. Joined the Philadelphia branch of the Union of Russian Workers, then in November 1919 organized an eight-member branch of the URW in Barracksville, West Virginia, at Jamieson Coal and Coke Company mine no. 7. Arrested December 2, 1919 “in possession of a considerable amount of anarchistic literature.” Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/625; FBI file OG 389365

Faras Kravchuk

Born Komarów, Russia (present-day Poland), 1894. Migrated to Canada 1914, then to US 1916. Factory worker. 1919 joined the Socialist Party, then Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/972

Peter Krawchuk

Born 1885, Russia. Migrated to Canada 1912 or 1913; then US 1916; then Canada 1917; then US 1918. Wife and child in Russia. Joined IWW branch 517, Spokane, WA in 1919. Arrested January 4, 1920 at Detroit Communist Party’s House of the Masses and answered “Yes” when asked if he believed in the doctrines of the Communist Party of America. Held at Fort Wayne. Deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/27

Natale Krilete (aka Boso)

Deported June 29, 1920 to Austria. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Alexander Krishtal (Алексей Кришталь; Aleksey Krischtall; Kryshtal; Kryshtall)

Born 1893, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1907. Anarchist. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Refused entry on the basis of his anarchism at Libau, along with several other deportees. Coauthored “An Open Letter to the Russian Premier Lenin” in response. Returned to US; resided in anarchist colony in Mohegan, New York, at least into the 1940s. Died 1961 in Lindenhurst, New York.

See: Free Society (New York), October-November 1921; https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=1002&h=16771122&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SAX481&_phstart=successSource; https://search.ancestry.com/cgi-bin/sse.dll?indiv=1&dbid=61668&h=464921&tid=&pid=&usePUB=true&_phsrc=SAX481&_phstart=successSource

Felip Krishtepowich

Deported to Russia October 16, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Teodor Krishtop (Теодор Криштоп; Theodore; Krishtiop)

Born 1885, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Miner. Migrated to US 1914. Wife and two children in Russia. Employee of the Jamieson Coal and Coke Company mine no. 9 in Farmington, West Virginia. Member of the Union of Russian Workers and of the United Mine Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Described as being “of a surly, non-communicative disposition.” Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/598

Maxim Kruk (Максим Крук; Max; Kroock)

Born 1881, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Migrated to US 1911. Laborer. Worked at Detroit’s Studebaker Plant No. 3. 1911 joined Ukrainian Branch No. 1 of the Socialist Party in Detroit, which in 1919 became Ukrainian Branch No. 22 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Held at Fort Wayne. “Voluntary departure” to Russia (via Canada) October 14, 1920.

INS file File 54859/778; FBI file BS 202600-714-1

Pavel Krupka (Павел Крупка; Paul; Krupkie; Krupkic)

Born 1893, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1914. Employee at Republic Rubber Company. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/195

John Krutz

Born Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine), 1888. Migrated to Canada 1914, then to US 1918. Laborer employed by Ford Motor Company in Dearborn. Wife and three children in Russia. Joined the Socialist Party around 1918, then transferred into Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 4, 1920; deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/962

Kubinskis to K_____

Stanislovas Kubinskis (Станисловас Кубинскис; Kubinskas; aka Stanley Kubinsky)

Born 1897, Kovno, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Carpenter; miner; laborer. In Russia, belonged to the Russian Social Democratic Party. Migrated to US 1914. Worked as a coal miner; former member of the United Mine Workers. In Detroit, worked for Ford Motor Company and in 1915 joined the Lithuanian Branch of the Socialist Party of America, which was transferred into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested April 22, 1919, “while distributing radical literature on a Michigan Avenue street car.” Declared his belief in “the soviet form of government.” Deported February 1, 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/165

Michael Kucher

Recording secretary of the Jersey City branch of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to “Galicia” (Poland?) March 30, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G; FBI file OG 380877

Efrem Kucher (Ефрем Кучер; Evsey; Evesey)

Arrested in Brooklyn during the second Palmer Raids, January 1919. Deported to Russia December 23, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

See also: The Standard Union (Brooklyn), December 23, 1920

Alek Kuchinsky (Алек Кучинский)

Laborer. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 55110/4

Mikal Kudreyko (Микал Кудрейко; aka Peter Kravchuk, Петр Кравчук; aka Michael Kravchuk; Krawchuk)

Born 1883, Pruzhany, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and child in Russia. Became secretary of a Detroit branch of the URW. Arrested July 1918 at a radical picnic; admitted he was “an anarchist, and proud of it.” Moved to New York; became secretary of the Housewreckers’ Union and coeditor of URW paper Khlieb i Volia. August 1919 arrested with editorial team and indicted for “criminal anarchy.” Falsely claimed that he had left the URW in 1918 “Because I thought this organization is not radical enough.” Deported on the Buford. Reportedly died soon thereafter.

INS file 54554/23

See also: Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America

Simon Kuish (Sam)

Born 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Rubber worker. Migrated to the US in 1912. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/193

Ivan Kulak (Иван Кулак; John)

Deported to Russia November 27, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Roman Kulich (Kovalevich)

Born Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus), 1895. Migrated to US 1913. Machinist. Member of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920; deported February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/722

Mark Kulish (Марк Кулиш; Kulesch; Kulesh)

Born 1890, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Laborer; factory inspector. Migrated to the US 1913. Wife and child in Russia. During the First World War, a factory worker and then a US arms factory inspector for the Russian Commission. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut circa 1916; became secretary of the URW branch in South Manchester, Connecticut 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919; falsely suspected of being a “bomb-maker.” Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/256

See also: Hartford Courant, December 22, 1919; https://connecticuthistory.org/the-red-scare-in-connecticut/

Nikolai Kuropato (Николай Куропато; Koroptko)

Born 1890, Rokitnica, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Longshoreman. Migrated to US 1910. Joined the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/345

Tony Kurson (Kirsion; Kirson)

Born 1884, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to the US 1909. Joined the Luch Society in Ansonia, Connecticut, circa 1917, which federal authorities maintained was a branch of the Union of Russian Workers (though Kurson denied this). Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/326; FBI file OG 382937

Michael Kusbit

Deported to Austria, May 8, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in 54325/36G

Fedor Kushnarev (Федор Кушнарев; Theodore Kushnareff; Kushnirov; Kushneroff; aka Theodore Alexander Casher; aka Alexander Dalny or Dalney)

Born 1898, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Jewish. Student; laborer. Migrated with parents and five younger siblings in 1913; father died less than a year later. Graduated high school in New Haven, Connecticut; became student at New York University. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917 or 1918. Organized a URW branch in New Haven; in 1919, he was financial secretary of the URW branch in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Arrested there March 1919 (under his pen name Alexander Dalney), but case against him dismissed. In New York, a coeditor of Khlieb i Volia. Arrested several more times (under different names), for the last time during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Asked for permission to have his “wife” (his companion, the anarchist and labor organizer Rose Pesotta) accompany him if deported. Deported on the Buford. 1920 arrested in Crimea and sentenced to five years in a prison camp “for propaganda of libertarian ideas” and allegedly taking up arms against the Soviet government. Later released after authorities deemed his incarceration an “error.” In 1920 and again 1924 hoped to leave Russia and go to US or Cuba. Although he did not join the Communist Party or call himself a Communist, he no longer considered himself an anarchist and concluded that “to support the Revolution means to support Lenin and Trotsky.” Briefly attended the Moscow Institute of Journalism. Worked with the American Relief Administration as interpreter and secretary for US Colonel Walter Bell in Ufa during the famine; contracted typhus. Some sources claim he died in 1925, but in 1934 his mother petitioned the US government to allow him and his family to enter the country.

INS file 54709/522 

See also: Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Elaine J. Leeder, The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer; Groupe des anarchistes russes exilés en Allemagne, Répression de l’anarchisme en Russie Soviétique; Rose Pesotta Papers, New York Public Library

Steve K______ (last name illegible)

His partially illegible name as it appears in the records

Deported to Yugoslavia, September 1, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in 54325/36G

Libed to Lojan

Arkhip Libed (Архип Либед; Arhip; Lebed)

Born 1881, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine).Ukrainian. Miner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and five children in Russia. Union of Russian Workers. Fairmont, West Virginia. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/603; FBI file OG 380968

Mike Libeszky

Deported to Austria May 8, 1920. No further information found.

Including on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Tito Ligi (aka Augusto Vitaletti)

Born 1894, Sassoferrato, Italy. Miner. Migrated to US 1912. Already an anarchist, along with his brother Adolfo, before both migrated; in the US associated with Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva. November 1920 arrested in Scranton, Pennsylvania, for evading the draft (having taken out a declaration of intent to naturalize, he was eligible for service). After his arrest he briefly became the lead suspect (almost certainly falsely) in the Wall Street bombing of 1920. Deported August 1922. Moved to Rome 1925 with wife Bianchi Angela, where they opened a small shop. Under government surveillance until 1940; although he maintained his anarchist ideas, officials recorded no political activity of note. Meanwhile his brother Angelo, living in Jessup, Pennsylvania, adopted Tito’s name (causing some confusion) and married fellow anarchist Maria Giaconi, who fought in the Spanish Civil War.

FBI file BS 25-63-12-1; CPC busta 2786

See also: The Nation, May 18, 1921; Beverly Gage, The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror; Charles H. McCormick, Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers

Amedeo Lilli (Lillie)

Born 1894, Acqualagna, Italy. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Anarchist; member, Circolo Studi Sociali of Milwaukee and subscriber to Cronaca Sovversiva. Arrested September 1917 after Italian anarchist “riot,” during which he was shot in the shoulder by an undercover policeman. Sentenced to 25 years for assault in Wisconsin State Prison; pardoned in 1922 on condition of deportation. Deported February 16, 1922. After return to Italy he became a tailor and, according to government surveillance that lasted into 1932, took no part in radical activities.

INS file 54235/67; CPC busta 2787

See also: Robert Tanzilo, The Milwaukee Police Station Bomb of 1917; Dean A. Strang, Worse than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror

Peter Linecky (Pete; Linieski)

Born 1885, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Migrated to US 1916. Laborer. Wife and two children in Russia. Joined the Communist Party in Detroit. Arrested January 1920; deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/713

Dora Lipkin (Дора Липкин)

Born 1894, Russia. Jewish. Migrated to US 1910. Anarchist and member of the Union of Russian Workers; common-law wife of URW leader Hyman Perkus. Lived in New York with family of Boris Shatz, another URW member and fellow deportee. Arrested October 1919 for “disturbing the peace”; arrested again during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Refused to answer questions while detained. Helped lead hunger strike on Ellis Island to protest conditions. Deported, along with Perkus, on the Buford. 1925 estranged from Perkus and described by Fedor Kushnarev as “a poor broken-hearted woman” who was hoping to leave Russia for Mexico. No further information found.

INS file 54709/275

See also: New York Tribune, November 30, 1919; Rose Pesotta Papers, New York Public Library

Samuel Lipman (Самуил Липман; Lippman; aka Schaie Lipzcuk)

Born 1888, Pinsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Furrier. Jewish. Migrated to US 1913. Belonged to New York’s Frayhayt Group, but considered himself a socialist rather than an anarchist; a pacifist and vegetarian strongly influenced by Leo Tolstoy. Common-law husband of anarchist Ethel Bernstein (who was deported on the Buford). Arrested with other group members in 1918 for writing and distributing fliers opposing US intervention in Russian Civil War. Sentenced to 20 years under the Espionage Act. In prison, became disillusioned with Tolstoy, but (falsely) claimed to have become an anarchist (so that he could be deported). Deported November 23, 1921 after losing landmark Supreme Court free-speech case Abrams v. United States. In Russia, reunited with and married Ethel Bernstein and studied agronomy and became chairman of the Department of Economic Geography at a university in Moscow. “After a period of doubts, struggle with my own self & debating,” applied to join the Communist Party in 1928. In the 1930s, however, he was executed in Stalin’s purges.

INS file 54517/72

See also: Richard Polenberg, Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Senya Fléchine Papers, International Institute for Social History, The Netherlands

Anton Lipsky (Антон Липский)

Born 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Presser. Migrated to the US 1913. “I came to the United States to learn some profession.” Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. New York. Arrested in the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/456

Demian Lisiuk (Демьян Лисюк; Jim; Lisuk)

Born 1894, Russia. Migrated to Canada 1913, then to US 1914. Laborer. Joined the Socialist Party 1919, transferred into Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920; deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/772

Nikolai Lisiuk (Николай Лисюк; Nicholas; Nick)

Laborer. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 55110/4

Anton Lishkevich (Антон Личкевич; Lichkevitch; aka Anto Cotie)

Born 1887, Kamieniec, Russia (present-day Poland). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1912; migrated to the US February 1919. “I have been an Anarchist since 1905.” Arrested January 1920 in Detroit. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921, but refused entry on the basis of his anarchism at Libau, along with several other deportees. Coauthored “An Open Letter to the Russian Premier Lenin” in response. Returned to US. Subsequent activities unknown.

FBI file OG 367316

See also: Free Society (New York), October-November 1921

Aftanasy Litvakoff

Deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/22

Anna Loban

Married Konstantin Loban in Akron, 1916. Deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/24

Konstantin Loban (aka Peter Dedka or Dutka)

Born Russia, 1893. Migrated to US 1915. Rubber worker at BF Goodrich in Akron. Married Anna Loban in Akron, 1916. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1915, in 1919 became secretary of its Lansing, Michigan branch. When asked why he “became antagonistic to this government,” replied: “Because I have been working here for eight years and am still doing hard laboring work and have not enough money to return to Russia, whereas the Americans all have much better jobs, have money and have privileges that I do not have and this country does not belong to Americans any more than it belongs to any one…as it was originally owned by the Indians.” Deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/24

Michael Lojan (Mike)

Born 1897, Austria-Hungary. Migrated to US 1913. Barber. Joined the Communist Party. Arrested in Milwaukee; deported to Yugoslavia 1923.

FBI file OG 382806

Parenti to Penske

Luigi Parenti (Louis)

Born 1887, Calcinaia, Italy. Laborer; union organizer. In Italy he was a Christian democrat and completed two years of seminary school in Lucca, then abandoned religious studies, married, and aided a Lucca streetcar drivers’ strike. Migrated to US 1910, with his wife. Soon became an anarchist, and joined the IWW in San Francisco in 1911. Became a lecturer and organizer for the IWW, and was arrested several times for leading strikes and demonstrations. Italian authorities considered him “one of the most dangerous propagandists in the anarchist movement across the United States,” and described him as “taciturn in character, educated, intelligent, [and] cultured.” Defendant at the mass IWW trail 1917-1918; sentenced to five years and a $30,000 fine; from September 1917 to June 1919 he was refused permission to communicate with his wife and three daughters, one of whom was born while he was in prison. Released on bail during appeal; worked as organizer for an independent Italian fisherman’s union in San Francisco, then as a correspondent for the newspaper La Voce del Popolo. May 1921 appeal lost and he reentered prison, but in 1922 his sentence was commuted on condition of deportation in August 1922. “Voluntarily departed” with his family October 26, 1922. In Italy, settled in Lucca and joined the syndicalist Unione Sindacale Italiana (USI), and attended its illegal 1926 convention. Then withdrew from radical activities; worked for a state-created union and as a reporter. 1929 Italian government reported that he “demonstrates obedience to the directives of the Regime,” but 1930 authorities discovered he was secretly receiving copies of radical publications from the US. 1932 he again reportedly displayed “good moral and political conduct” and “ideas in full agreement with the directives of the Regime.” Died 1961. (Note: An obituary in L’Adunata dei Refrattari, September 1942 for an anarchist named Luigi Parenti, who died in Paterson, New Jersey, refers to a different individual.)

INS file 54235/61; CPC busta 3732

See also: Industrial Workers of the World Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University; Kenyon Zimmer, Immigrants Against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America

Theodor Pasiuk (Feodor, Paschuk)

Born c.1880, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Wife and child in Russia. Member Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 4, 1920; deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/967

Lev Paskovich (Лев Паскович; Levi Paskevick)

Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in Philadelphia in January 1920; deported to Russia February 1, 1921. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

See also: Philadelphia Enquirer, February 1, 1921

John Paskvalick (Pashvalisk)

Deported to Austria June 19, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

George Pasukow

Deported to Russia October 17, 1920. No further information found.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Peter Pavlas (Петр Павлас; Pete Pawlas; Pawalas; Pavlus)

Born 1885 in Warsaw, Russia (present-day Poland). Czech (“Bohemian”) parents. Machinist; laborer. 1894 migrated to Bohemia; 1909 migrated to Argentina; 1915 migrated to Mexico; migrated from there to US 1917 (without inspection). Brought to US by a labor agent to work in a sugar factory near San Francisco. Described by an immigration agent as “a peculiar character, being somewhat of a ‘globe trotter’, and a student of Esperanto…He is believed to be more intelligent than he would represent.” Appears to have been a member of the Socialist Party of America. Arrested January 31, 1919 in Cleveland while distributing SP literature. In ill health at Ellis Island. Because SP membership was not a deportable offense, the Bureau of Immigration was “unable to find that the anarchistic charges in the warrant are substantiated by the evidence,” but deported him on the grounds of having entered without inspection and being “likely to become a public charge.” Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/16

Artemy Pavluk (Артемий Павлук; Pauluk; Paulik)

Born 1885, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Miner. Served four years in the Russian Army. Migrated to US 1913. Drafted into US Army and served for six months at Camp Lee and Camp Shelby, then discharged. Secretary of the Union of Russian Workers branch at the Dakota Mine in Fairmont, West Virginia. Arrested December 2, 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/605

Josef Penske (Йозеф Пенске; Joseph Penski)

Born 1886, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Polish. Migrated to US 1912. Autoworker. Lived in Hamtramck. Joined the Socialist Party 1914, then the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920; “voluntary departure” to Russia October 16, 1920.

INS file 54859/541