Frank Brodya (or Brodia; a.k.a. P. Broido)
Born: Born 1882, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Blacksmith
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A former Russian army conscript, Brodya migrated to the United States in 1913 as an already-committed anarcho‑syndicalist. Settling in Pittsburgh, he joined the Union of Russian Workers and served as secretary of his local branch. He collaborated with fellow activist Frank Belesta in calls for a general strike to force the lifting of the U.S. blockade of Soviet Russia. Immigration authorities considered him “one of the most dangerous Russians in the Pittsburgh district,” and his deportation warrant initially misidentified him as an Italian citizen. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54616/89; New-York Tribune, October 4, 1919.
Abe Brook (or Bruk; Brooks)
Born: Born 1893, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Brooklyn branch of the Union of Russian Workers, though he denied membership under interrogation. Around 1918 he married fellow anarchist Clara Kessler. He was arrested in October 1919 while helping organize a protest against the U.S. blockade of Russia, and again during the first Palmer Raids the following month. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919, his wife publicly protested the deportations and petitioned to be deported herself, but was denied on account of her US birth.
Sources: INS file 54709/273.
Ivan Nicholaevich Brunert (a.k.a. John Brunert or Brunett)
Born: Born 1869, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Bookkeeper; tailor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two sons remained in Kiev when he emigrated to the U.S. By 1918 he had joined Baltimore’s Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers and served as its financial secretary. Previously affiliated with an IWW branch of Polish tailors and later with the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/109
Ivan Bubenko (a.k.a. John)
Born: Born 1884, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 (via Canada)
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated to avoid military service. Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1918 and soon transferred to Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party of America. Accepted “voluntary departure” on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54860/22; FBI file BS 202600-712-1.
Anton Budkovsky (or Budkowsky; a.k.a. Antoni Buoty or Buotv)
Born: Born 1884, Pružany, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 (via Canada)
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Entered the U.S. from Canada without inspection. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Detroit in 1917. Arrested in July 1918 after a confrontation between authorities and local Russian radicals, he stated, “I am a sympathizer of the anarchists, but I am not an anarchist…I believe in their teachings.” He “voluntarily departed” on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54554/23.
Fedor Buhay (a.k.a. Frank Bohai)
Born: Born 1893, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US c. 1910
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Born in Russia but raised in Galicia, Austria-Hungary, Buhay was a Belarusian (“Ruthenian”) who joined the Communist Party of America in Buffalo and was deported to Austria on April 14, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54809/427; FBI file OG 382147.
