Tag Archives: Serbian

Pivarsky to Potenkin

Steve Pivarsky

Born 1892, Veliki Bečkerek (present-day Zrenjanin), Austria-Hungary (present-day Serbia). Serbian. Migrated to US 1912. Autoworker. Employee of the Fisher Body Corporation in Detroit. 1913 joined Branch No. 61 (later Branch No. 17) of the South Slavic Federation of the Socialist Party of America; 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, April 14, 1920.

INS file 54860/374; FBI file OG 388055

Jacob Plajek

Deported to Poland, August 1, 1920. No further information found.

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

Mike Podalak

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

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

Mathew Podlipsky (Матвей Подлипский)

Podlipsky’s URW membership card

Born 1887, Rakitnitsa, Russia (present-day Belarus). Polish-Belarusian. Laborer. Migrated to US 1909. A member of the Union of Russian Workers branch in Newark. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/356; FBI file OG 381187

Marko Podner

Born 1892, Okrug, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Croatian. Laborer; miner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Croatia-Slavonia. June 1919 joined Branch No. 62 of Communist Party of America in West Winfield, Pennsylvania; became its secretary. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, June 19, 1920.

FBI file OG 8000-382563

Wolf Pohl (aka Pawlowicz; Pavlovich)

Pohl’s Communist Party membership card

Born c.1896, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Jewish. Migrated to US 1912. Housepainter. Joined the Socialist Party in 1913, then the Communist Party. Communist speaker and literature distributor in Buffalo. December 1920 joined the IWW as well. August 1919 arrested for distributing radical literature, but released. Arrrested again January 1920. Confined at Erie County Jail, where contracted pneumonia that required transfer to hospital for treatment. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/912

George Polevoy (Полевой)

Born 1883, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Miner. Migrated to US 1907. Joined the IWW circa 1914 in Moundsville, West Virginia; also a member of the United Mine Workers (UMW). Participated in a miners’ strike protesting the conviction of Tom Mooney, and another in protest of the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs. Arrested June 1918 for disturbing the peace during a dispute with UMW leaders; sentenced to $50 fine and ten days in jail (UMW member William Bursey later testified against Polevoy as a leader “of the foreign element [in the union]…they have made all kinds of trouble.” Arrested August, 1919. Described by immigration agent as “exceptionally shrewd and astute.” Deported February 1, 1921. Wife and child in US.

INS file 54709/49

Josef Polulech (Йозеф Полулех; Joseph; aka Joseph Balluch)

Born 1892, Grodno region, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Arrested during raid on the Union of Russian Workers’ “Russian People’s House” in New York during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Denied membership in the URW (and no evidence of membership was produced); claimed he was only there to attend arithmetic and Russian classes. He had, however, been an active member of New York Methodist Episcopal Church of All Nations since 1913, and several church leaders attempted to intervene on his behalf. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/449; FBI file OG 8000-382493

See also: The Churchman, January 24 and February 21, 1920; Constantine M. Panunzio, The Deportation Cases of 1919-1920

Jacob Popich

Born 1892, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Laborer. Member of the South Slavic Branch of the Communist Party of America in Omaha. Arrested in St. Paul, Nebraska, January 8, 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, July 15, 1920.

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

See also: Omaha Daily Bee, January 9, 1920

Serjy Porchunoff (Sergy; Sergey)

Born 1888, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Served in Russian Army for two years. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Employed by Standard Oil. Joined the Russian Branch of the Whiting, Indiana branch of the Socialist Party in 1914, then the Communist Party; secretary of both branches. Arrested Chicago, January 7, 1920; deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 54809/82

Andrew Postaruk (Pestaruk?)

Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921. No further information found.

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

Efrim Potenkin (Ефрим Потемкин; Efrem; Efreem; Potemkin)

Born 1897, Gomel, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Steelworker. Attended meetings of the Union of Russian Workers in Monessen, Pennsylvania, but denied being a member and no evidence of membership produced. Arrested in Greensburg, Pennsylvania during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Immigration Inspector in Charge recommended cancelation of the deportation warrant for lack of evidence, but overruled by Commissioner General A. Caminetti. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/519

See also: Kate Holladay Claghorn, The Immigrant’s Day in Court

Yarmovics to Zamora

Constanti Yarmovics (Constant)

“Voluntarily departed” to Austria, May 8, 1920. No further information found.

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

Mikhal Yarosevich (Михал Яросевич; Mihal)

Born 1889, Saratov Oblast, Russia. Steelworker. Migrated to US 1911. October 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch Youngstown, Ohio. Was participating in the 1919 steel strike when arrested November 10, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/177

Andrew Yarosevick (Jarosevich, Jaroschwicz)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1914. Arrested in Youngstown, Ohio, November 9, 1919, at a convention of the Union of Russian Workers. Unemployed at the time, and claimed to be illiterate. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/175

Fred Yarovoy (Фредрих Яровой; Yarovoi)

Born 1895, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1915. Member of Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Arrested November 15, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/317

Alex Yartim (Yarstein; Jorhem)

Yarim’s Communist Party membership card

Born c.1889, Rozeta, Russia (present-day Belarus). Belarusian. Migrated to US 1909. Baker. Member and treasurer of Communist Party branch in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Arrested in Philadelphia, January 1920. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/342

Dimitry Yasinsky (Дмитрий Ясинский; Yasensky; Yesinsky)

Yasinsky’s URW membership card

Born 1886, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1911; from there migrated to US 1914. Wife in Russia. April 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 15, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/385

Ivan Yatsyshen (Иван Яцышен; John Yatzyshen)

Yatsyshen’s Communist Party membership card

Born c.1898, Nastasiv, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Employed by Standard Oil in Buffalo, New York. Joined the Socialist Party, then the Communist Party’s East Side Ukrainian Branch, for which he was secretary. Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921.

INS file 54809/566

William Yaukum (Yankum; Yankul)

Born 1893, Russia. Miner. Migrated to US 1913. 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Fairmont, West Virginia. Arrested December 2, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/594

John Yereb

Born 1883, Köflach, Austria. Migrated to US 1896. Laborer, miner. Employed in various jobs across the US. Involved in several United Mine Workers strikes in 1900s. 1914 joined the IWW in Mohall, North Dakota; 1920 appointed general delegate for the IWW. Active in 1919 coal strikes in Illinois. Arrested March 31, 1920 in Bellville, Illinois; in possession of a large amount of IWW literature and correspondence. Deported March 28, 1921.

Pregnant wife Laura in US; gave birth to daughter June 1921. John almost immediately left Austria for Germany, from which he sailed to Tampico, Mexico, and from there joined the crew of a ship headed to Portland, Maine, where he disembarked July 30, 1922 and was detained. His case gained significant press coverage, and the deportation warrant was dropped after it was confirmed that he had in fact become a US citizen in 1900 at age seventeen by virtue of his stepfather’s naturalization. Laura died in Bellville in 1952; he died there in 1957.

INS file 54861/401; FBI file OG 383910

See also: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 17 and October 15, 1922; St. Louis Star, October 17, 1922; Nashville Journal (Nashville IL), February 7, 1957

John Zabrian

Born 1894, Minsk region, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913, then Canada later that year; returned to US 1918. Laborer. Joined the Socialist Party, then Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/377

George Zaklan

Born c. 1891, Mogorić, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Serbian. Migrated to US 1909. Laborer. Early 1919 joined the Socialist Party, then Detroit’s Serbian Branch No. 212 of the Communist Party. Requested deportation to Russia rather than Yugoslavia, which was granted; deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/700

J. Zamora

Deported IWW member. No further information found.