Alfonso Fagotti
Born: 1894, Teramo, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Anarchist
An anarchist and subscriber to Cronaca Sovversiva. In December 1916, arrested in West Rutland, Massachusetts, for stabbing a police officer in the hand during a melee at an anarchist anti-preparedness event. In apparent retaliation, a bomb was detonated at the local police station, causing no injuries. After serving his sentence, he was held for deportation and deported on June 24, 1919.
Upon his return to Italy, he was arrested for avoiding military conscription during the war. He remained under state surveillance thereafter, but Italian authorities reported “good political conduct” from the time of his arrival through 1941.
Sources: INS file 54379/394; CPC busta 1928; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background
Anton Federako (a.k.a. Tony Federaco)
Born: 1891, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Harrison, New Jersey, in 1919. Arrested in Newark during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. When questioned, denied membership in the URW and claimed he had merely stopped by its offices for a glass of tea; however, an undercover federal informant identified him as a lecturer for the organization. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/339; FBI file OG 379806.
Nick Federov
Born: 1884, Samara, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1907
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A machinist residing in Milwaukee with his wife and daughter. Member of Milwaukee’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party; formerly a member of the Socialist Party. His wife, Titena Federov, as well as her mother Olga and stepfather Mike Kruk, were also Communist Party members. Arrested in January 1920. When informed of the possibility of deportation without his wife, he stated, “I can’t live without my wife; maybe I going to get crazy, or something like that.” Deported on March 18, 1921, accompanied by his wife and child.
Sources: INS file 54859/149.
Maxim Fedorash
Born: 1884, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Communist Party of America (non-member)
Injured while working on a railroad in Canada in 1915 and hospitalized for two months. Later attended a Communist Party-run night school in Detroit and expressed support for Communist ideas, though he never formally joined the Communist party. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/770.
Ivan Fedosky (a.k.a. John Fedosky; Iwan Fesosky)
Born: 1889, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; to US 1916
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America
Entered the United States via Canada without inspection. Member of the Russian branch of the Socialist Party of America in Detroit (which was not a deportable offense). In April 1919, turned over to Detroit police by his employer, the Great Lakes Engineering Company, for allegedly spreading Bolshevik propaganda among plant employees. Deported aboard the Buford as “likely to become a public charge” and for unlawful entry.
Sources: INS file 54616/170.
Kirio Fedyk
Born: 1894, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 (via Canada)
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1918. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/379; FBI file OG 271860.
Ivan Felchuk (a.k.a John; Filchuk; Wilchuk; Nilchuk)
Born: 1893, Skobelka, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Autoworker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party in the summer of 1919. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/9.
Emil Feltman
Born: 1881 or 1882, Berlin, Germany
Nationality: German
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner; union organizer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1882
Affiliation: IWW
Migrated to the United States as an infant with his father; orphaned by age six following his father’s death in a mining accident in Butte, Montana. Enlisted in the US Army in 1898 and served in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars; honorably discharged in 1900. Joined the IWW in 1913 and became an organizer in 1918. Married fellow IWW member Fannie Martini in Bisbee, Arizona, in 1916. Arrested in Jerome, Arizona, in February 1919 while organizing miners during a strike. According to the arresting officer, “he also said that it didn’t make any difference where he was deported to, whether it was Germany or China, he would continue his present agitation as organizer of the I.W.W.s.” His mental and physical health deteriorated while detained. Deported on May 22, 1920.
After deportation, worked briefly as a coal miner in Westphalia and later migrated to Soviet Russia, becoming one of the first Americans to join the Kuzbas Autonomous Industrial Colony in Siberia. Left Russia along with sixteen other disillusioned Kuzbas members in September 1922.
Sources: INS file 54616/140; FBI file OG 194288; Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University Library; J. P. Morray, Project Kuzbas: American Workers in Siberia (1921-1926).
Kiril Fengol ( a.k.a. Kirin Pinhol)
Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Dishwasher
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/526; FBI file OG 213090.
