Monthly Archives: February 2020

Jankovich to Justkavich

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

Jerto Jankovich

Born 1896, Bosnia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina). Migrated to US 1913. Joined Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh, and transferred into Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested March 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, June 1920.

FBI file OG 387576

John Janson (Johnson; Jensen; aka Earnest/Ernest Laukivors/Laukivirs/Laukioirs)

Janson’s Socialist Party membership card, under the name Ernest Loukivirs

Born 1886, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia). Sailor; wrestler; model. Latvian. Migrated to US 1916. Joined Lettish Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Boston in March 1917 (not a deportable offense). 1918 left Boston to make his way to Russia via the West Coast. Arrested Denver for allegedly “advocating anarchy.” Arrested again in Wyoming June 1918. According to immigration authorities, “The alien is highly educated, having written considerable fiction, and is therefore, holding the views that he does, a dangerous person to have in the country.” Hoped to return to Latvia (“Lettland”) to fight for its independence. Deported on the Buford. Appears to be “the Boston deportee” (as he was the only Buford deportee from Boston) mentioned by Alexander Berkman, who Berkman described as a former sailor and former employee of a detective firm who in Russia quickly joined the Cheka.

INS file 54379/534

See also: Alexander Berkman, The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920-1922)

George Jerevich

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

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

Johan Johanson (John Johnson; real name Jonas Back)

Born 1874, Finland. Laborer. Migrated to US 1901. Wife and two children in Finland. Joined IWW circa 1917. Twice confined to an insane asylum in Idaho, in 1915 and 1918. Arrested September 1919 in Spokane, initially under state’s criminal syndicalism law. Deported August 14, 1920. September 1920 reported to have left for Soviet Russia. September 1921 rumored to to be en route to the US. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/81; FBI file BS 186701-200

Ragnar Johanson (Johannson)

Born 1887, Stockholm, Sweden. Painter; union organizer. Joined the syndicalist Young Socialist League circa 1900, also joined the painters union. 1910 participated in the founding congress of the syndicalist Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (Central Organisation of the Workers of Sweden, or SAC), for which he became an organizer and gifted speaker. Migrated to US 1912. Joined IWW and became one of its best-known Swedish organizers. Was aiding IWW organizer Frank Little in Butte copper strike in 1917 where Little was lynched; received identical threats against his own life. Defendant in federal IWW trial in 1917-18, where sentenced to ten years in prison and a $30,000 fine. Sentenced commuted in exchange for deportation; deported January 1, 1923. Immediately resumed activity on behalf of the SAC; became manager of the SAC’s publishing house, Federativs förlag, from 1929 to 1954. 1940 briefly imprisoned for writing a pamphlet condemning the Hitler-Stalin Pact. 1942-1954 served as treasurer of the anarcho-syndicalist International Working Men’s Association. Died 1959.

INS file 54616/58

See also: https://www.sac.se/Om-SAC/Historik/Biografier/Johanson,-Ragnar-1887-1959; Henry Bengston, On the Left in America: Memoirs of the Scandinavian-American Labor Movement

David E. Johnson

Born 1883, Sweden. Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1900; migrated to US (from Canada) 1903; moved back and forth between US and Canada several times. Joined IWW 1916. Arrested March 1918, St. Maries, Idaho. Deported November 4, 1918. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54379/197

Oscar Johnson (aka Arthur Ludwig Holden)

Born 1893, Gottenburg, Sweden. Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Joined IWW 1916. Survivor of 1916 Everett Massacre, for which he was arrested until charges dropped in 1917. Arrested Seattle, January 17, 1918. Described by immigration officials as “quite intelligent,” and “a very undesirable acquisition to the population of the United States.” Deported November 30, 1918. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54379/9

Mihail Jolnerovitz (Dimtro Jolnerovich)

Born c. 1896, Vilno Governorate, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Anarchist. Migrated to US 1913. Hotel housekeeper. Member of the Anarchist-Communist Groups of the United States and Canada. Distributed underground anarchist newspaper Free Society. Arrested February 23, 1920 in Cleveland. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/26

Victor Jubkiavich

“Voluntary departure” to Russia, 1921. No further information found.

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

John Justkavich (aka Sam Ushkovich)

Member of the Communist Party of America in Bayonne, New Jersey. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Russia on December 23, 1920. No further information found.

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

See also: The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey), December 23, 1920

Kabas-Tarasyuk to Karniski

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Ivan Kabas-Tarasyuk (Иван Кабас-Тарасюк; John Tarasuk, Tarasyk, Tarasiuk; Vanaya Kabas-Tarasyuk; aka John T. Rasky, John Tarasky)

Born 1893 or 1897, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Ukrainian. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1916. Arrested December, 1917 in Akron, Ohio, for attempting to organize a strike of rubber workers; released on bail. Became secretary of Baltimore URW branch. Arrested again March 1919. Deported on the Buford. In Russia, became active in anarchist Nabat Federation in Kharkov; arrested and imprisoned November 1920. Arrested again October 1921 and sentenced to 2 years for anarchist activities; transferred to Ryazan labor camp. Escaped via the Black Sea (possibly to Crimea), but returned to Russia 1922. Arrested 1925 for organizing an illegal anarchist group and sent to internal exile in Arkhangelsk. 1926 exiled to Petropavlovsk for 3 years for corresponding with anarchists abroad. 1929 exiled to Tashkent for 3 years.

INS file 54235/157

See also: G. P. Maximoff, The Guillotine at Work: Twenty Years of Terror in Russia (Data and Documents); Boris Yelensky, In sotsialn shturem: zikhroynes fun der rusisher revolutsie; http://lists.memo.ru/d14/f460.htm; https://ru.openlist.wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B0%D0%B1%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%8C-%D0%A2%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%8E%D0%BA_%D0%98%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(1893)

Luka Kachanov (Лука Качанов, Katchanov, Kachanow, Katchanos)

Born 1899, Gukovo, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1917 (jumped ship). Joined Bristol, Connecticut branch of the Socialist Party of America; joined Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested December 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/614

Samuel Kadatsky or Kodatsky

Member of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Russia December 23, 1920. No further information found.

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

See also: Butte Daily Bulletin, December 29, 1920

Paul Kalach

Member of the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Deported to Russia January 6, 1921. No further information found.

FBI file OG 388114; included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G

Josef Kalenezcicz (Kalenczicz)

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

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

Ivan Kalenov (Иван Каленов, John Kaleanoff, John Chaljin)

Born 1897, Kubasovo, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. 1917 joined the Union of Russian Workers, for which he was a “volunteer organizer” and frequent chairman of, and delegate to, organizational meetings. Member of the Workers’ Defense League. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/231

George Kaltejika

Born 1890, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. Member of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919, in Youngstown, Ohio. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/199

Stepan Kaminsky (Степан Каминский, Steve Kaminsky)

Kaminsky’s URW membership card

Born 1896, Podolia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Machinist. Migrated to US 1914. Joined the Elizabeth, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919; taught arithmetic classes for URW; also joined the IWW October 1919. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/158

Ivan Kamisoruk (John; Komisaruk; Komisaiuk)

Born 1884, Obertyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Wife and two children in Ukraine. Migrated to Canada 1913 or 1914, then to US 1917. Laborer. Joined Detroit’s Ukrainian Branch No. 128 of the Communist Party. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/781

Samuel Kanovich or Kanonovich (Сэмюэл Канович or Канонович, Kanowich)

Born 1891, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Migrated to US 1911. Member and secretary of the Perth Amboy, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested New York, December 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/649

John Kanter

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

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

Gust Karniski (Густ Карниски)

Born 1886, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Polish. Laborer. Migrated to US 1906. Married and had child in Chicago. Joined Socialist Party of America; likely later transferred to Communist Party (though he denied this). Arrested April 1921 by “two citizens” for distributing “anarchistic literature” (May Day circulars published by the Communist Party of America). “Voluntary departure” May 4, 1923. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 55009/73

Katzes to Kircher

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , ,

Arthur Katzes (Katses; Kestes; Ketzus; Katz)

Born 1897, Podolia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Printer. Had been a student in Russia and apprenticing as a pressman; worked as a sailor to pay for passage to US in 1914 (entered without inspection). Worked as printer in US. Joined Union of Russian Workers circa 1917; member of the editorial board of URW newspaper Khleb i Volia. Arrested March 1919 in New York. Released on bail; collaborated on producing the illegal Anarchist Soviet Bulletin; arrested with Ethel Bernstein in September 1919 for distributing copies of that paper. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/115

See also: Richard Polenberg, Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech

Joe Kaunas (Bogdanas)

Russian-born coal miner and Communist Party member in Indianapolis. Arrested January 9, 1920. Claimed Lithuanian citizenship, but deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/713

Teleso Kavalianskas (Stanley; Kavalionskas, Kavalauskas; Talespor Kavalanchas)

Born 1881, Kovno, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Lithuanian. To US 1912. Secretary of Branch No. 43 of the Lithuanian Federation the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntary departure” October 20, 1920 via Canada.

INS file 54709/954; FBI file BS 202600-155-1

Joseph (“Joe”) Kennedy

Born 1885, Belfast, Ireland. Miner. Migrated to US 1905. Joined IWW 1917; became secretary of Metal Mine Workers’ Industrial Union No. 800 in Butte, Montana. Arrested multiple times for IWW activity. Worked with IWW organizer Frank Little before Little was lynched in Butte in 1917. Also “active…in the cause of Irish independence.” Arrested February 1919, in aftermath of miners’ strike. Deported June 1919. Joined Merseyside IWW branch in Liverpool. 1924 reportedly intended to return to US illegally. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/74

See also: Butte Daily Bulletin, June 13, 1919; Socialist Review (London), February 1, 1959

Ilya Kerczuk (Ellis Kerchuk; Navul Kerchuk)

Born c. 1898, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Deported to Russia February 1, 1921. No further information found. Laborer and longshoreman in Camden, New Jersey and New York. Arrested May 1919 in Philadelphia by company guards of Pusey and Jones Shipbuilding Company of Gloucester City, NJ, for distributing “Bolshevik circulars” on company grounds. Deported February 1, 1921.

INS file File 54616/173

Boris Keretchuk

Born 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1916. Joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Newark. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/358

Nuval Kerget (Nabul; Нувал Кергет)

Lumber worker. Member of the Union of Russian Workers in Seattle.Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54860/569; FBI file OG 389514

Ivan Kesevich

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

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

Olan Killen

IWW member. Deported October 31, 1919. No further information found.

Included on list of deported IWW members in One Big Union Monthly, March 1920

William Kircher

Born 1892, Hesse, Germany. Laborer. Migrated to US 1906. Joined IWW 1917. Arrested May 1918 in Seattle; interned as “enemy alien” at Fort Douglas, Utah. “Voluntary departure” 1919. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54408/512; FBI file OG 193587

Kirson to Konavalchuk

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Beril Kirson (Boris; Barnet; Barnett; Kirzon)

Born 1872, Mogilev, Russia (present-day Belarus). Jewish. Sailor; carpenter. 1914 migrated to England; 1916 migrated to Canada then back to England. Migrated to US 1917 (jumped ship). Wife and four children in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Buffalo in July 1919. Also a member of the Workers’ International Industrial Union. Arrested in first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/144; FBI file OG 8000-378509

Joseph Kish (Kiz; Kis; Kiss; Kism)

Born 1889, Aranyosgyéres, Hungary (present-day Câmpia Turzii, Romania). Laborer. Migrated to US 1911. Widower, three children living with his mother in Hungary. Joined Hungarian Federation of the Socialist Party of America circa 1912. Also joined IWW in 1919. Arrested in Cleveland and sentenced to thirty days in workhouse for disturbing the peace at 1919 “May Day riot.” Arrested again July 1919. Immigration Inspector in Charge in Cleveland wrote: “this alien has been confined in the County Jail at Cleveland for nearly nine months under conditions which are highly undesirable. The Cuyahoga County Jail is very old and unsanitary, and is so badly crowded that persons are lucky if they do not have to remain in their cells at least twenty-two (22) hours out of the twenty-four (24) of the day.” Deported March 21, 1920.

INS file 54616/236

Nikolai Kizer (Николай Кизер; Nick)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1915. Alleged to be secretary of the Union of Russian Workers branch in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919, as was his cousin, Peter Kizer. According to the Bureau of Immigration, “In some manner Peter Kizer was taken to Ellis Island rather than Nick Kizer, for whom a warrant of deportation had been issued. Nick was left in the city jail in Hartford.” The error was discovered at Ellis Island and Peter Kizer was apparently eventually released (although one source claims he was mistakenly deported). Nikolai was deported January 22, 1921.

INS files 54709/160 and 54709/265

See also: Bruce B. Sherbert, “The Palmer Raids in Connecticut, 1919-1920,” Connecticut Review 5, no. 1 (1971)

Nikolai Klemiatov (Николай Клемятов; Nicholas Klemiatoff; Kleminatoff)

Born 1891, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh and in 1919 transferred to the Communist Party of America. Arrested October 1920. Deported February 1, 1921.

INS file 54885/48

Efim Kochovetz (aka M. Berisoff)

Born 1888, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1907. Joined Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1914; later became secretary of New London, Connecticut branch and taught arithmetic classes in its school. Arrested in Hartford, Connecticut during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/161

Efim Kolesnikov (Ефим Колесников; John Kolesnikoff; Joachim)

Kolesnikov (center, standing) with other URW members arrested in New York, November 7, 1919

Born 1880, Kursk, Russia. Ship reamer. Widower. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1919. Arrested and beaten during first Palmer Raids, November 7, 1919, the Russian People’s House in New York. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/454

Jim Komar (or Jonar)

Born 1879, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and two children in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested Youngstown, Ohio during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/544; FBI file OG 378979

Pavel Konavalchuk (Paul)

Born 1894, Russia. Migrated to US 1911. Machinist. A member of the Union of Russian Workers in Newark until it was broken up in November 1919. Wife and American-born child in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Arrested Newark January 3, 1920. Avowed anarchist, “but as an anarchist I am opposed to all force or violence of any kind.” Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54860/164

Konikh to Korostyshevsky

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Gerasim Konikh (John Konik)

Born Grodnia, Russia (present-day Poland). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Circa 1925, sentenced to five years in Solovki prison camp as an anarchist; 1930, “entirely in broken health,” sentenced to three years of internal exile in Arkhangelsk.

INS file 54709/545; FBI file OG 378976

See also: Bulletin of the Relief Fund of the International Working Men’s Association for Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists Imprisoned or Exiled in Russia, November-December 1930

Aleksandr Konon (Александр Конон; Alexander Kornen; Konol)

Born 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Member of the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/352

Pavel Konon (Павел Конон; Paul Konon; Pawel; Konen)

Born Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Miner. Migrated to US 1914. Wife and four children in Russia. Member of the Communist Party of America. Arrested Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania. Deported February 1, 1921.

FBI file OG 389419

John Konopatsky (Иван Конопацкий; aka Anton Konopatsky)

Born 1895, Russia. Migrated to US 1914. Wife and three children in US. Member of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America; then Bayonne, New Jersey’s Russian Branch of the Communist Party. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January, 1920 in Newark. Deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54860/163; FBI file OG 384085

Ignatz Konoval (Ignance Konowal; Ignace)

Born 1894, Russia. Polish. Migrated to US 1913. Member of the Polish Branch of the Communist Party of America in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported December 23, 1920.

See: The Courier-News (Bridgewater, New Jersey), December 22, 1920

Benjamin Kontrowitz (Kontorovich; Kantorovitch; Berl Kanterowicz; Berek; aka B. Kanter)

Born 1882, Ekaterinoslav, Russia (present-day Dnipro, Ukraine). Silk weaver. Migrated to US 1916. Married with one son in Paterson, New Jersey. Former member of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America; joined the Russian Federation of the Communist Party of America in 1919; recording secretary, Executive Board member, and lecturer for its Paterson branch. Also served as delegate to the First Convention of the Jewish Communist Federation in October, 1919. Also a member of the IWW’s Textile Workers’ Industrial Union. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported November 23, 1920.

INS file 54810/67; FBI file OG 380782

Vasily Mitin Konyakin (Василий Митин Конякин, Vasil Koniakin; Vasil Mitin)

Born 1873, Saratov, Russia. Rubber worker. Migrated to US 1912. Joined Union of Russian Workers in 1917; became an officer in its Akron branch. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/227

Feodor Korini (Frank; Korano; Karoni; aka Brutski; Brutzki; Rutzky)

Born Chiernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine), c. 1888. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Financial secretary of Russian Branch No. 2 of the Communist Party in Philadelphia under the pseudonym of Butzki. Arrested January 1920; denied being “Butzki,” but multiple witnesses identified him as such. According to the immigration inspector, “The testimony of the alien is shifting, evasive, and evidently untruthful in material particulars.” Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54809/873

Zys Korostyshevsky (Зыс Коростышевский; Zusil; aka Joe Kraus)

Born 1897, Radomyshl, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Jewish. Garment worker. Migrated to US 1913. Became a Tolstoyan (i.e. pacifist and agrarian) anarchist. Arrested June, 1917 in Chicago, but deportation warrant canceled for lack of evidence. Arrested again January 1919. Deported March 12, 1921.

INS file 54235/35

Korotkov to Kovalenko

Red Scare Deportees, , , ,

Vasily Korotkov (Василий Коротков; Vasely Krotokoff; Koratkoff; Keratkoff)

Member of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested Seattle, December 1919. Deported February 1, 1921. No further information found.

FBI file OG 389407

Gregory Koroviansky (aka George Karoff)

Born 1891, Russia. Laborer. 1912 migrated to Argentina; 1914 migrated to US. Wife and child in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Buffalo in 1919. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November, 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/145

Anton Korshikov (Антон Коршиков; Tony Korscheikoff; Korschikoff)

Born 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1914. Described himself as “a fugitive from Czarism.” Arrested and beaten while attending arithmetic class at the Union of Russian Workers’ People’s House in New York during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/455

Wacław Kosiorek

Born 1894, Russian Poland. Polish. Laborer. 1914 joined Detroit’s Polish Branch No. 8 of the Socialist Party, which transferred into the Communist Party. Arrested December 29, 1919. “Voluntary departure” to Russia via Canada and England, 1920. No further information found.

INS file 54709/860

Mike Koslick

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

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

Logvin Kostevich (Логвин Костевич; Lenohon; aka Louis Kostevich)

Born 1894, Povusk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Ukrainian. Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the “Russian Workmen’s Organization” in Baltimore, 1917; 1919 transferred into Branch No. 2 if the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/420

Gabriel Kosticovitch (Kosticowitsc)

Born 1882, Russia. Migrated to US 1916. Member of Russian Branch No. 3, Communist Party of America, in Detroit. Arrested during second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntary departure” via Canada, October 16, 1920. No further information found.

FBI file 202600-1380-1

Konstantin Koszko

Born c.1897, Zasieki, Russia (in present-day Poland). Anarchist. Migrated to US 1913. Butcher; meatpacker. Became an anarchist c. 1917. Joined the Anarchist-Communist Groups of the United States and Canada. Arrested in Cleveland, February 1921. When asked to define what an anarchist is, answered: “An Anarchist is a man who understands the ‘Blood-suckers’ of the world and its parasites, who are a menace to society, and understanding that, no man can be anything else but an Anarchist.” Deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/23

Anton Kotiak (Антон Котяк)

Kotiak’s URW membership card

Born 1895, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Drafted into US Army November 1918 but honorably discharged March 1919 at his request as an unnaturalized alien. Joined the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers circa September 1919. Arrested Hartford, Connecticut during first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/386; FBI file OG 389393

Maxwell Kotick (Максвелл Котик; Kotik; Kutick)

Kotick’s Communist Party membership card

Born c. 1890, Russia. Jewish. Widower. Migrated to US 1910. Clerk. Literate in English, Yiddish, Russian, and German. Joined the Socialist Party in 1912, then October 1919 transferred to Philadelphia’s Russian Brach of the Communist Party. Arrested January 2, 1920. Deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

INS file 54810/820; FBI file OG 389320

Dionisiy Ivanovich Koval (Дионисий Иванович Коваль; Daniel Kowal; Danny Cowas)

Born 1884, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1913; migrated to US 1914. Wife and two children in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1919; escaped arrest during Palmer Raids on Russian People’s House in November 1919; relocated to Waterbury, Connecticut, where he joined the Union of Russian Citizens (an umbrella organization for Russian progressives). Arrested March 1920. Deported January 22, 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

FBI file OG 384417

Foma Koval (Фома Коваль; Tom; Coval)

Koval’s Communist Party card

Born 1891, Russia. Belarusian (Ruthenian). Migrated to US 1913. Blacksmith. Joined Buffalo’s Russian Branch of the Socialist Party, then joined the Communist Party in September 1919. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 554809/438

Fedor Kovalchuk (Федор Ковальчук; Kowalchuk)

Member of the Communist Party of America in Philadelphia. Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921. No further information found.

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

See also: Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1921

Evgraf Kovalenko (Евграф Коваленко; Efgram; Kovaleko; aka E. Koval)

Born 1885, Russia. Migrated to England 1906, then Germany; 1912 migrated to Canada; from there migrated to US 1917. Wife and two children in Russia. Member of the Union of Russian Workers in Pittsburgh, where he was “known by the police department and officers of the Bureau of Investigation as one of the worst radicals in the city.” Arrested May, 1919. Deported on the Buford. At unknown date, sentenced to internal exile (with wife and children) in Omsk region of Siberia.

INS file 54616/176; FBI file OG 8000-360780

See also: https://ru.openlist.wiki/%D0%9A%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BB%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%BA%D0%BE_%D0%95%D0%B2%D0%B3%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%84_%D0%92%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%BB%D1%8C%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87

Feodosiy Kovalenko (Феодосий Коваленко; Fedisiw Kovalenko; Feodosew; Feodosy; aka Fred Konert)

Born 1892, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1911; then to US 1915. Joined the Union of Russian Workers Branch No. 2 in Detroit in February 1918; distributor of Russian anarchist and IWW publications. Arrested May 1919. Deported January 22, 1921. Appears to have illegally returned to the US, as he was an active member of Detroit’s Dielo Truda Group in 1939, and at that time was considered a “comrade…capable of doing great work of the organizational-educational type in the movement.”

FBI file OG 369234

See also: Lazar Lipotkin, The Russian Anarchist Movement in North America

Kovalevich to Kozy

Red Scare Deportees, , ,

Fedor Kovalevich (Федор Ковалевич; Frank Kowalawich; Kowalowich)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Rubber worker. Migrated to US 1914. Spent almost a year in the US Army stationed at Camp Sheridan and Camp Jackson (Alabama). Joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Akron, Ohio in April 1919. Employee of B. F. Goodrich. Explained to immigration agents: “By Internationalism I mean that there should not be different countries or different nations.” Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/534; FBI file OG 376750

Iakov Kovalevich (Иаков Ковалевич; Jacob Kowalewich; John)

Born 1889, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. Former member of the Socialist Party of America; joined the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut, September 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/402

Ilya Kovalsky (Louis Kowalsky; Kuznetz)

Kovalsky’s URW membership card

Member of the Union of Russian Workers arrested in Ansonia, Connecticut during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/496 (incomplete file)

Józef Kowalski (Joseph; Joe; aka A. Gorny; aka Jan Gómy)

Born 1890, Łódź, Russia (present-day Poland). Silk weaver; editor. A member of the Left faction of the Polska Partia Socjalistyczna (Polish Socialist Party); distributed illegal literature and. Arrested in Łódź in 1907 for assaulting a foreman; spent three years in a Russian prison. Under surveillance upon release. Migrated to US 1913. Worked as a silk weaver in Paterson, New Jersey. Joined the Polish Section of the Socialist Party of America; participated in strikes in Passaic, New Jersey and Philadelphia. By 1919 he was secretary of the Polish Federation of the SPA; on the executive board of the newspaper Głos Robotniczy (Workers’ Voice); and a delegate to the founding convention of the Communist Party of America in Chicago. A member of the CP’s central committee and secretary of its Polish Burea; arrested in Kansas City, Missouri, September 1919 for making a “disloyal and inflammatory speech” and imprisoned for “unlawful assembly,” and deported to Poland upon his release, March 17, 1921.

Wife and child joined him in Moscow, where he briefly became a “court investigator” for Butyrka Prison in Moscow (used for political prisoners). Participated in the Third Congress of the Comintern in July 1921 under the name “Jan Gómy.” Illegally returned to the US via Canada in 1922 to organize on behalf of the Comintern; arrested in New York August 1922 and sentenced to 18 months in federal prison. However, after his release both the Polish and the Russian governments refused to issue passports for his deportation, so he remained free on bail. A member of the Executive Board of the CP, and administrator of Communist newspaper Glos Ludowy (The People’s Voice), founded 1923. Settled in Detroit. In the 1930s Kowalsky was a district manger for the CP’s Daily Worker and one of the section leaders of District No. 7 of the CP, and in 1936-1938 he coedited the monthly newspaper Trybuna. Participated in 1938 “sit-down” strikes. Returned to Poland in 1949; joined the Polish Communist party (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza) and served in various administrative posts. One source claims he became a member of the Sejm (Polish parliament), but this appears to be false. Died 1960 in Łódź.

INS file 54709/486 (file missing); FBI file OG 8000-143411

See also: New York Herald, August 9, 1922; Don Binkowski Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University; Jacob Spolansky, The Communist Trail in America; Don Binkowski, Poles Together: Leo Krzycki and Polish Americans in the American Labor Movement; Zygmunt Pietrzak, “Kowalski Józef (1890-1960),” Słownik biograficzny działaczy polskiego ruchu robotniczego, vol. 3

Matthew Kozario (Kosaric; Kosario; Kozaric)

Deported to Yugoslavia, April 14, 1920. No further information found.

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

Ivan Kozlik (Iwan; aka John Cozich; Gustko)

Born 1893, Kiev, Russia. Machinist. Migrated to US 1908. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Elizabeth, New Jersey, in 1917. Arrested in New York during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/363

Vasil Kozlov (Василь Козлов; Kozlow)

Born 1893, Gomel, Russia (present-day Belarus). Miner. Migrated to US 1911. Like many URW members, had worked on a farm in Russia, but “There were many people in the village where I lived and they received letters telling that we could make more money in America, so I decided to come.” Worked as a hauler in Jamison no. 9 coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia. A member of the United Mine Workers, and joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested December 1, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/601; FBI file OG 8000-379018

Vasily Kozlovch (Wasily)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Machinist. Joined the Socialist Party, then a aember of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921. Arrested January 1920; held at Fort Wayne. Deported February 26, 1921.

INS file 54860/379

Osip Kozorez (Осип Козорез; aka Joseph Koza; Joe Koza)

Born 1881, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1914. Wife and four children in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Newark in January 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Participated in five-day hunger strike on Ellis Island to protest installation of a wire screen separating detainees from visitors. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/342; FBI file OG 379013

Ivan Kozy (Иван Козы; John)

Born 1894, Uman, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1914; crossed into the US at Niagara Falls in March 1919. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/332