Born: 1885, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: IWW; anarchist
An anarchist, Berger was involved in “revolutionary groups in Russia” and participated in the 1905 Revolution before migrating to the United States. Shortly thereafter he joined the Industrial Workers of the World. Arrested in Fresno, California, in September 1917 for public drunkenness, he was detained when authorities discovered his IWW membership card. Berger stated: “I hold allegiance to no country. The world is my country…I was a syndicalist since I was a lad of 13 or 14.” He was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54407/17.
Otto Berglind (a.k.a. August Berdland)
Born: 1880, Västmanland County, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1908; then to US 1913 Affiliation: IWW
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1913. Arrested in Everett, Washington, in January 1918 and deported on October 31, 1918.
Sources: INS file 54379/33.
Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman, 1919. National Archives.
Born: 1870, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer; typesetter; editor Migration: Immigrated to US 1888 Affiliation: Anarchist
Born Ovsei Osipovich Berkman into a prosperous Jewish family. Joined the Russian Populist movement as a student. After migrating to the United States, he became an anarchist and a lifelong collaborator of Emma Goldman. In 1892 he attempted to assassinate industrialist Henry Clay Frick in retaliation for the deaths of several steelworkers during the Homestead Strike. He served fourteen years of a twenty-one-year sentence for attempted murder. Upon his release in 1906 he was one of the country’s most prominent anarchists. He later edited Goldman’s Mother Earth and in 1915 established The Blast in San Francisco. A co-founder of the No-Conscription League, he was arrested under the Selective Service Act in June 1917, served two years in federal prison, and was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
In Soviet Russia he and Goldman gathered materials for a projected Museum of the Revolution. Initially critically supportive of the Bolshevik dictatorship, he broke with it completely after the Kronstadt mutiny of 1921, prompting his departure with Goldman later that year. Berkman lived precariously in Germany, France, and other European countries and became an important critic of the Soviet regime, most notably through his book The Bolshevik Myth (1925). He co-founded and served as secretary of the Joint Committee for the Defense of Revolutionists Imprisoned in Russia and was active in the RRelief Fund of the International Working Men’s Association for Anarchists and Anarcho-Syndicalists Imprisoned or Exiled in Russia. In ill health and financial distress, he died by suicide in Nice, France, on June 28, 1936.
Sources: INS file 52410/43; Alexander Berkman, The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920–1922); Emma Goldman, Living My Life; Paul Avrich and Karen Avrich, The Anarchist Odyssey of Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman; Alexander Berkman Papers, International Institute for Social History.
Grigoriy Berko (or Gregory Berko/Berkoff/Bezko)
Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Became a member of the Communist Party branch in Rockford, Illinois. Arrested in Chicago during the January 1920 Palmer Raids, he “voluntarily departed” for Soviet Russia on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54809/8; FBI file BS 202600-150-1.
Charles Bernat
Born: 1879, Russia (somewhere in present-day Estonia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Estonian Occupation: Lumber worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1902 Affiliation: IWW
Hoined the Industrial Workers of the World around 1908 and became an IWW delegate and organizer. In 1917 he was appointed Secretary of Lumber Workers Industrial Union Local No. 500 in Seattle. Arrested there in June 1918, he was deported on February 1, 1921.
Born: 1898, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Garment worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Anarchist; Union of Russian Workers
Became an anarchist around 1917 and joined the Jewish anarchist Frayhayt Group along with her partner, Samuel Lipman. Arrested in New York in 1919 for distributing The Anarchist Soviet Bulletin. She admitted to being an anarchist but denied belonging to the Union of Russian Workers and refused to answer additional questions. In November 1919 she led a hunger strike on Ellis Island to protest conditions. Deported on December 21, 1919 on the Buford.
In Russia, she began working for the People’s Commissariat for Foreign Affairs in 1920. Reunited in 1921 with Samuel Lipman (who was deported with Jacob Abrams and others). Lipman was killed in Stalin’s purges in the 1930s; their son was killed in the Second World War. Bernstein herself was sentenced to ten years of hard labor in a Soviet prison camp. Reportedly still alive in Moscow in 1983, “alone and impoverished.”
Sources: INS file 54616/115; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Abe Bluestein, ed., Fighters for Anarchism: Mollie Steimer and Senya Fleshin.
Yakov Berov (or Jacob Berov; a.k.a. Jocob Byra)
Born: 1891, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Had a wife and son in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919 and served as secretary of the URW branch in Monessen, Pennsylvania. Arrested later that year and deported on December 21, 1919 on the Buford.
Born: 1891, Treviso, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: Anarchist
Active in radical circles in Italy before emigrating to the United States. Affiliated with Seattle’s Italian anarchist Circolo di Studi Sociali and distributor of Cronaca Sovversiva. Narrowly escaped arrest on November 25, 1917. “Voluntarily returned” to Italy via Canada in early 1921.
In 1922 he migrated to Australia, where in Melbourne he became a significant figure in the Italian anarchist and antifascist press, editing the newspapers Il Risveglio (1927) and L’Avanguardia Libertaria (1930–32). Cofounded the Anti-Fascist League and Matteotti Club. Died in 1940.
Sources: CPC busta 551; Gianfranco Cresciani, Fascism, Anti-Fascism, and Italians in Australia, 1922–1945; Gianfranco Cresciani, “Exploitation, Emigration and Anarchism: The Case of Isidoro Alessandro Bertazzon,” Altreitalie, no. 46 (June 2013).
Fedor Biacharsky (or Frank Biacharski)
Born: 1895, Kupyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 (via Canada) Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife remained in Russia. Joined the Youngstown, Ohio branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested in the Palmer Raids of November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/208; FBI file OG 380612.
Pietro Bianchi
Pietro Bianchi, 1932. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1882, Isola Fano, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Mason; laborer; fish peddler; co-op manager Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: Anarchist
Worked as a mason until he lost an eye in a workplace accident. Married and a member of the Italian anarchist Circolo Studi Sociali in Milwaukee. Arrested in 1917 following a “riot” against a pro-war speech from a Protestant minister. Deported in December 20, 1919.
In Italy he became a baker and remained under police surveillance until 1940, but no political activity was recorded after his return.
Sources: INS file 54235/64; CPC busta 621; Dean A. Strang, Worse than the Devil: Anarchists, Clarence Darrow, and Justice in a Time of Terror
Nadia Bianki (née Nikiforovna)
Born: 1895, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Anarchist; Union of Russian Workers
An anarchist since 1914. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1918. Wife of deportee Peter Bianki; their son, Peter, was born in New York in 1917. Deported to Soviet Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 55009/15.
Peter Bianki (or Bianchi)
Peter Bianki, 1919. National Archives.
Born: 1891, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Italian Occupation: Laborer; metal worker; printer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Born to Italian immigrant parents to Russia. Hoined the Union of Russian Workers shortly after its founding in 1914. Quickly became one of its prominent leaders. Elected URW Secretary in January 1919 and later editor of its newspaper Khleb i Volia. Married to Nadia Bianki. Arrested in New York in February 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
In Russia, quickly joined the Communist Party and held multiple Soviet government posts. During the Kronstadt mutiny, however, he shot himself in the arm to avoid being conscripted into military action against it. In 1928 transferred to Siberia to direct a grain-requisitioning detachment; killed in March 1930 during an armed peasant uprising, and was afterward celebrated as a Communist martyr.
Sources: INS file 54616/115; Malcolm Archibald, “Peter Bianki: The Soviet Years,” Kate Sharpley Library, http://www.katesharpleylibrary.net/pnvzh1; Alexander Berkman diary, Alexander Berkman Papers, International Institute of Social History.
Born: 1896, Austria-Hungary Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Communist Party in Detroit in September 1919. Deported to Austria on May 8, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54860/358.
Mikhail Bilokumsky (or Michael Bilokumsky)
Born: 1892, Andreevka, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: United Communist Party
Member of the United Communist Party (the result of a merger between the Communist Labor Party and part of the Communist Party of America in 1920). Arrested in Philadelphia in January 1921 during the second Palmer Raids, and again in April 1921 while distributing UCP May Day leaflets. Ordered deported to Russia in August 1921 on the basis of the revolutionary content of those handbills. His legal challenge failed before the U.S. Supreme Court in United States ex rel. Bilokumsky v. Tod (1923). Because the Soviet Union no longer accepted deportees from the United States, officials attempted to use a passport issued by the unrecognized “Ukrainian Diplomatic Mission,” but this document was invalid. Although an Immigration Bureau board recommended his release in January 1924 due to the impossibility of lawful deportation, officials nevertheless deported him May 24, 1924.
Routed through Switzerland to the Russian border, he was refused entry. Last reported to be stranded and starving in Vienna.
Sources: INS file 55009/76; Daily Worker, June 19, 1924; Kansas State News (Topeka KS), August 29, 1924.
A list of IWW prisoners and deportees in the IWW’s One Big Union Monthly lists a Bjorkman as having been deported on October 28, 1919. This may be Conrad Bjorkman, a Swedish IWW member and delegate arrested in Seattle in November 1917 for failing to register for the draft, and again in Pine Bluff, Arkansas, in March 1919 for “vagrancy.”
Sources: One Big Union Monthly, March 1920; Seattle Star, Novembrer 17, 1919; FBI file MS 15960.
Juan Blanco
Born: Nationality: Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: IWW
Listed in an IWW publication as having been deported sometime before February 1921.
Sources: La Unión del Marino (Buenos Aires), February 1921.
Catherine Hartog Bloom
Born: 1883, Hoogwoud, The Netherlands Nationality: Dutch Ethnicity: Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Not politically active before migration, but joined the Socialist Party of America around 1915 and became treasurer of her Chicago SP local. Transferred to the Ninth Ward branch of the Communist Party of America in October 1919. Married to Nick Bloom, a building-trades worker; the couple owned a home in Chicago and intended to sell it so that he could accompany her back to the Netherlands. Deported on June 11, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/120; FBI file OG 381560.
Sergey Bobkov (or Serge Bobkoff/Babkoff)
Born: 1898, Moscow, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A 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 on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/431; FBI file 388847.
Sevastyan Bogdanovich (or Sebastian; a.k.a. Sam)
Born: 1892, Grodno Governate, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1915 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Arrested in Baltimore in March 1920 after he “nearly caused a riot” by giving a pro-Bolshevik speech in front of Holy Rosary Church. Deported to Poland on February 1, 1921.
Born: 1893, Korets, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New Haven in early 1919. Arrested in Hartford, Connecticut, during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Deported on the Buford under the name Zenov (or Xenov) Bogen on December 21, 1919.
After returning to Ukraine, joined the Nabat Anarchist Federation and observed the partisan army of Nestor Makhno. Arrested in Kharkov around November 1920 and executed by the Cheka around March 1921 (dates differ slightly among sources).
Sources: INS file 54709/207; Senya Fleshin Papers, International Institute for Social History; http://socialist.memo.ru/lists/bio/l3.htm#n814; Voline, The Unknown Revolution, 1917-1921; G. P. Maximoff, The Guillotine at Work: Twenty Years of Terror in Russia (Data and Documents).
Nikolai Bolsun (or Bolson/Bolsum)
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Member of the Communist Party of America in Plainfield, New Jersey. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920. Deported to Russia on December 23, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey), December 23, 1920.
Vasily Bondarenko (or Wasiliy Bondarenko; a.k.a. William Bender/Bander)
Born: 1897, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Active member of the Union of Russian Workers in Bridgeport, Connecticut, where he also lectured for the URW nationally. Arrested repeatedly: in Bridgeport (November 9, 1919), Hartford (November 28, 1919), and New York (January 1920). Deported to Russia January 22, 1921.
Later reported to have been killed executed under Stalin.
Sources: INS file 54709/404; FBI file OG 382161; Lazar Lipotkin, The Russian Anarchist Movement in North America; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America
Samuel Bondarenko (or Bondarewko)
Born: c. 1878, Kyiv region, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Labor Party
Member of the Russian Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Philadelphia, later joining the Communist Labor Party and serving as secretary of the branch. Arrested December 29, 1919. Deported to Russia on February 1, 1921 as an alleged member of the Communist Party of America. (Membership in the CPA rendered immigrants deportable, whereas after 1920 membership in the CLP did not.)
Sources: INS file 54809/871; FBI file OG 267034.
Peter Bonko
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Communist Party of America?
Arrested in Brooklyn during second Palmer Raids in January 1920. Likely a member of the Communist Party of America. Deported to Russia on December 23, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; FBI file BS 202600-33; The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey), December 23, 1920.
Vasily Bootryn
Born: 1888, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Moldmaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Had a wife and children in Russia. JoJoined the Socialist Party in Detroit in April 1919 and later transferred to Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, in January 1920; held at Fort Wayne. “Voluntarily departed” on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54859/998; FBI file OG 387334.
Vladimir Borisyuk (or Borisiuk/Borisink; a.k.a. Walter Borisuk)
Vladimir Borisyuk’s Socialist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1893, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Member of the Socialist Party of America who then paid one month’s dues to the Communist Party of America. Authorities also suspected he belonged to the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Hartford, Connecticut, in November 1919 during the first Palmer Raids. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/151.
Borkhak
Born: Year unknown Nationality: Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: IWW
A Polish member of the Industrial Workers of the World, deported on February 20, 1921.
Source: Golos Truzhenika, March 5, 1921.
Ivan Borovsky (or John Borowsky)
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Barber; railroad worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1908 Affiliation: IWW; Union of Russian Workers?
Member of the Russian branch of the Industrial Workers of the World in Chicago; also suspected of membership in the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Deported on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/267; FBI file OG 380320.
Boris Borsuk (a.k.a. Boris Boroes/Borores)
Born: Born 1896, Brest, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Barber; shop owner Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Helped organize the Union of Russian Workers branch in Youngstown, Ohio, and distributed URW literature. Arrested in August 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919. His brother Dimitri was also arrested as a suspected anarchist but not deported.
Sources: INS file 54709/500; FBI file OG 380628.
Max Brazeliya (or Brazelia)
Born: Born 1892, Warsaw, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 (via Canada) Affiliation: Unaffiliated socialist
An unaffiliated socialist and reader of the Yiddish socialist Forverts. Arrested in St. Louis in March 1919 after being reported by his employer at the Nelson Pants Manufacturing Company for “spreading Bolshevik propaganda.” His employer, not wanting to see him deported, later defended him as harmless and “a good workingman.” Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54616/25; FBI file OG 352388; Kenyon Zimmer, “The Voyage of the Buford: Political Deportations and the Making and Unmaking of America’s First Red Scare,” in Deportation in the Americas: Histories of Exclusion and Resistance, ed. Kenyon Zimmer and Cristina Salinas.
Josef Brencich
Born: Born 1887, Fiume, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia) Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Croatian Occupation: Sailor; painter Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Anarchist; IWW
An Italian speaker of Slavic background. Arrested in Philadelphia in 1921 along with Erasmo Abate and other members of the IWW-affiliated Union of Italian Workers. Ordered deported to Hungary, then allowed “voluntary departure” on January 8, 1923 because Fiume had become an independent state.
Met up with Erasmo Abate in Italy and France later in the 1920s.
Sources: INS file 55009/82; Hugo Rolland [Erasmo Abate] interviewed by Robert D’Attilio, Paul Avrich Collection, Library of Congress.
Stefen Brezovic (or Vrezovic)
Born: Born 1886, Austro-Hungary Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Yugoslavian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1916; in September 1919 he transferred into South Slavic Branch No. 17 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested January 1920, in Detroit. Deported to to Yugoslavia on May 8, 1920.
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)
Abe Brook, 1919. National Archives.
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.
Born: Born 1902, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1909 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Nephew of URW activist Peter Bianki. In 1909 he and his sister joined their mother, Alexandra Nikiforovna Bukhanova, in the US. He graduated from high school in Manhattan in 1918 and became secretary of the Greenpoint, Brooklyn branch of the Union of Russian Workers. He was arrested during the Palmer Raids in November 1919 and became the youngest passenger deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After returning to Russia he was employed by the Russian-American Tool Plant (Russko-Amerikanskiy instrumental’nyy zavod). In July 1921 he signed (possibly under duress) a statement issued by the Union of Russian Anarchist Workers Repatriated from America that advocated critical support for the Soviet regime. Arrested in 1923 during a crackdown on anarchists. Married 1930s and in 1937 graduated from the Leningrad Industrial Institute with a degree in metallurgy. Assigned to a factory in Voronezh, where his mother, wife, and children joined him. Arrested in July 1938 during the Great Purge and sentenced to five years in the Tomasinlag forced labor camp, where he died November 1942.
Alexander Bukovetsky (or Bukhovetsky; a.k.a. Felix or Feliks Konosevich)
Bukhovetsky with family, c. 1919. National Archives.Bukhovetsky in Windsor, c. 1940s. Delo Truda-Probuzhdenie, January–April 1954.
Born: Born 1886, Ekaterinoslav, Russia (present-day Dnipro, Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Metalworker Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1908; then to US 1919 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Socialist-Revolutionary Party as a youth and participated in the 1905 Russian Revolution. Migrated with his wife Frances and their daughter to Canada, where a son was born. Became an anarchist in Ontario; moved between the United States and Canada repeatedly for work. Arrested in March 1918 after giving radical speech in Timmins, Ontario, but the charges were dropped. Migrated to the US with family the following year, and employed as a machinist at the Ford Motor Company. Active in the Union of Russian Workers in Detroit and organized URW branches in Jackson and Kalamazoo, Michigan. Arrested in Detroit in January 1920 and detained at Fort Wayne, where on one occasion guards beat him bloody in front of his visiting wife and children. During his detainment, Frances was diagnosed with tuberculosis and the family was “dependent upon the charity of friends for support.” At their request, the entire family was deported February 26, 1921 (Frances being deported as an immigrant who entered the US illegally and was “likely to become a public charge”).
After arrival in Soviet Russia he immediately spoke out against the Communist dictatorship and was arrested as a Makhnovist supporter. Frances obtained his release with the assistance of anarchists including Emma Goldman, and the family emigrated to Germany and then Windsor, Canada, where they remained active in the Russian-speaking anarchist movement. Frances died in 1935; Alexander (under the name “Felix Konosevich”) died in 1954.
Sources: INS file 54709/467; 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; 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).
Mikhail Bushanowits
Born: Born 1887, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
Served in the Russian military before migrating to the United States, where he became active distributing radical literature. He joined the Union of Russian Workers, distributed Russian-language IWW literature, and served as secretary of the Progressive Union of Russian Peasants in Hartford, Connecticut. He was arrested there in December 1919 and deported to Soviet Russia on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/152.
Ivan J. Busija (a.k.a. John J. Busija)
Busija’s Communist Party membership card
Born: Born 1888, Austria-Hungary (likely in present-day Croatia) Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Croatian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1908 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
An Italian speaker and machinist at Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. Joined East Pittsburgh’s South Slavic Branch No. 5 of the Communist Party of America in October 1919. Arrested December 27, 1919; deported to Yugoslavia via Greece on June 19, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54908/279; FBI file OG 387246.
Paul Bussert
Born: Born 1885, Germany Nationality: German Ethnicity: Occupation: Sailor; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1906 Affiliation: IWW
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916 and was arrested in Walla Walla, Washington, where authorities discovered a large quantity of IWW literature in his room. Considered “above the average in intelligence,” he was interned as an enemy alien at Fort Douglas, Utah, and “voluntarily departed” to Germany in September 1919.
Sources: INS file 54379/52.
William Butrimuk (a.k.a. Basil Warseleideuk; William Novick)
Born: Born 1894, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Autoworker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Worked in the auto industry in Detroit and became a member of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and subsequently “voluntarily departed” to Russia via Canada on October 16, 1920.
Sources: FBI file BS 202600-1379-1.
Mikhail Demyanovich Butskevich (or Michael Deminavich Butzkevich)
Butskevich’s URW membership card. National Archives.
Born: Born 1893, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. He was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported to Soviet Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Born: Born 1894, Fontán, A Coruña, Spain Nationality: Spanish Ethnicity: Galician Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: IWW; anarchist
A former member of the IWW’s Marine Oilers, Firemen and Watertenders Union and an active participant in the Spanish anarchist group El Ariete in Niagara Falls, New York. In May 1919 he was arrested with two other members for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the United States government, based on a revolutionary manifesto they were distributing, but the case was dismissed by a judge. He was deported as an anarchist on August 8, 1920.
Reentered the United States on October 4, 1943 via Canada; attempted to gain US citizenship in 1949. June 1955 he returned to Spain, where he died in May 1970.
Sources: INS file 54709/16; FBI files OG 389193 and OG 8000-357909; familysearch.org; La Voz de Galicia, May 23, 1970 (with thanks to Eliseo Fernández Fernández).
Arthur Stanley Cattell (a.k.a. Arthur Kotel/Ketel)
Arthur Cattell’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: Born 1886, London, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Plumber Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A former member of the Socialist Party of America who later served as a member and treasurer of the West Philadelphia branch of the Communist Party of America. He was deported from the United States on September 30, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54811/490; FBI file OG 380747.
Michele Centrone
Michele Centrone, c. 1930s. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: Born 1879, Puglia, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1903 Affiliation: Anarchist
Joined the Socialist Party of Italy in 1897 and gravitated toward anarchism by 1900. After migrating to the United States, he collaborated on anarchist publications in San Francisco, where he belonged to the anarchist Gruppo Volontá, distributed Cronaca Sovversiva, and served as secretary of the Latin Branch of Local 95 of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners (AFL). Arrested in 1918, he was deported on March 27, 1920.
Following Mussolini’s rise to power, Centrone unsuccessfully attempted to reenter the United States under a false name in 1922 and was again deported. In 1924 fled Italy to France; arrested and expelled from France 1928. Then lived in Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, and Luxembourg, and illegally returned to France 1931. Remained active in antifascist exile networks, including the organization Giustizia e Libertà, and as a correspondent for US anarchist publications. In 1936 he volunteered to fight in the Spanish Civil War with the anarchist Ascaso Column and was killed in action on August 28, 1936.
Sources: INS file 54379/330; FBI file OG 321621; CPC busta 1243; Mario Gianfrate and Kenyon Zimmer, Michele Centrone, tra vecchio e nuovo mondo: Anarchici pugliesi in difesa della libertà spagnola.
Antonio Cesco (Chesco)
Antonio Cesco, c. 1920s. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: Born 1882, Bellano, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1904 Affiliation: Anarchist
Not politically radical before emigrating but later became a Socialist Party member and then an individualist anarchist, distributing Cronaca Sovversiva while working as a coal miner in Pennsylvania and Ohio. He was a member of the United Mine Workers and was arrested in May 1918 in Yorkville, Ohio, while hospitalized with a mining injury. Deported on February 7, 1920.
arrested upon arrival in Italy but later amnestied. Subsequently emigrated to Germany and France, settling in Lyon, where he was known for his antifascist views but was not publicly politically active.
Sources: INS file 54379/401; CPC busta 1274.
Boris Cevetsky (or Sckiwitsky)
Born: Born 1885, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanisn Occupation: Dishwasher Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party of America in early 1919, which subsequently transferred into the Communist Party of America. He was arrested in January 1920, held at Fort Wayne, and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/985.
Yakov Cewook (or Gewook/Tsiwuh)
Born: Born 1886, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two children remained in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1918. He was deported to Soviet Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Born: Born 1896, Samara, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
A member of both the Union of Russian Workers and the IWW, and lectured for the URW. Arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut, in March 1919, he was sentenced to six months’ imprisonment for violating the Espionage Act. After his release he continued radical propaganda activity and was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54616/117; FBI file OG 8000-363703; Lazar Lipotkin, The Russian Anarchist Movement in North America.
George Chernov (or Chernoff)
Born: Born 1893, Kherson, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Mechanic Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Detroit in 1917 and worked at the Ford Motor Company. Arrested at his workplace in November 1919 and deported on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/285.
Ivan Chernyavsky (or John Cherniawsky)
Chernyavsky’s URW membership card (which he attempted to rip up during his arrest). National Archives.
Born: Born 1894, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A member of the Union of Russian Workers in Jackson, Michigan, and was arrested in Detroit in October 1918, during which he attempted to destroy his URW membership card. He was deported on January 22, 1921.
He may have been the anarchist Chernyavsky later arrested in Petrograd in 1923.
Sources: INS file 54709/465; FBI file OG 375427; Senya Fleshin Papers, International Institute of Social History.
S. G. Chestyakov (a.k.a. Gregory Chestikoff; Chestiakoff; Harry Chesniuk)
Chestyiakov’s URW membership card (which he attempted to rip up during his arrest). National Archives.
Born: c. 1893, Chernihiv province, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated. Became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Donora, Pennsylvania. He was arrested there on September 1, 1920, reportedly after being identified either by an undercover Bureau of Investigation agent or, according to contemporary accounts, betrayed by a fellow URW member. During his arrest, Chestyakov and fellow activist John Sergeyenko were reportedly beaten severely by police, and anarchist literature was found in his possession. Tried and convicted under Pennsylvania’s Sedition Law and sentenced to one year in the Allegheny County Workhouse. Deported on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54885/30; FBI file OG 389087; Volna (New York), May 1921 (with thanks to Malcolm Archibald).
Andrey Chigraev (a.k.a. Andy Chigraeff)
Chigraev’s membership cards for the SPA and URW. National Archives.
Born: 1891, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Miner; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Union of Russian Workers
Belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church before emigrating to the United States in 1913; his wife remained in Russia. After joining the Ukrainian Branch of the Socialist Party of America in 1918, he became a member of the Monessen, Pennsylvania branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. An undercover officer reported that Chigraev actively participated in political debates focused on socialism and anarchism, and Chigraev admitted to anarchist beliefs. Arrested while on strike at the mill where he was employed and was subsequently deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/478.
Leon Chikalyuk (or Chikaliuk; a.k.a. Leo Chrikaluik)
Born: 1890, Russia (somewhere in present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1915 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and son remained in Russia when he emigrated. Joined the Monessen, Pennsylvania branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 while participating in a strike at a tool mill. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/516.
Stepan Chinevich (or Hinievich)
Born: 1886, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
Involved in radical political activity in Russia prior to his migration. Moved intermittently between the United States and Canada for work. In Seattle, he joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917 and later became a member of the IWW in 1919. Arrested multiple times for radical activity beginning in 1917 and deported on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54235/94.
Maksim Chineyko (or Maxim Chinejko)
Born: 1890, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Became a member of the Brooklyn-based Branch No. 10 of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 while working at the Guggenheim Copper Company in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/117.
Lev Ilyich Chizhevsky (a.k.a. Leo Chijefsky)
Born: 1896, Minsk, Konotop, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1917 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Brother of fellow URW member and deportee Stanislav Chizhevsky. Joined the Buffalo branch of the Union of Russian Workers, where he served as a distributor of anarchist literature. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After returning to Russia, he continued his education and became an engineer at a paper mill. He later joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union but was arrested in April 1937 on charges of belonging to a counter-revolutionary organization and executed in September 1938.
Stanislav Chizhevsky (a.k.a. Stanislaus Chijevsky)
Born: 1896, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Brother of fellow URW member and deportee Lev Ilyich Chizhevsky. Joined the Buffalo branch of the Union of Russian Workers; arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/141.
Victor Chmylkowski (or Charnelkowski)
Born: 1869, Riga, Russia (present-day Latvia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Mechanic Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliations: Communist Party of America
Active in socialist and communist politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was treasurer of Polish Branch No. 80 of the Communist Party. In 1914 he married fellow deportee Victoria Okulicz, and the couple had two U.S.-born children. Arrested in March 1920, Chmylkowski and his wife sold their property and “voluntarily departed” for Russia on April 7, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/528.
Victoria Chmylkowski (née Okulicz)
Born: 1893, Łęczyca, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Immigrated to the United States in 1913 and married fellow deportee Victor Chmylkowski the following year. She joined the Socialist Party and later the Polish Branch No. 80 of the Communist Party. Arrested alongside her husband in March 1920 and “voluntarily departed” for Russia with him on April 7, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/137.
Andrey Chuprina (a.k.a. Andrew)
Born: 1881, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1916 (via Canada) Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers?
Settled in Detroit, where his wife and three children also resided. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 on suspicion of belonging to the Union of Russian Workers, though evidence suggests he may have only attended a few URW meetings. “Voluntarily departed” on September 25, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54709/551; FBI file OG 385742; United States Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Charges of Illegal Practices of the Department of Justice.
Ferruccio Coacci, 1930. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1892, Ancona, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Shoemaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Anarchist
An anarchist militant associated with Luigi Galleani and the newspaper Cronaca Sovversiva. He lived in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. Arrested in 1918 and subsequently became a suspect—though not regarded as such by most historians—in the robberies and murder for which Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were later arrested. Deported on April 18, 1920, and was joined by his family in Italy.
According to journalist Eugene Lyons, at his home in Italy Coacci possessed anarchist literature on bomb-making and described himself as “a terrorist of the Galleani school.” In October 1921, he migrated to Argentina, where he became involved in anarchist “expropriations” and bombings and was associated with Severino Di Giovanni. In 1930, he was arrested in Buenos Aires with two other Italian anarchists in connection with the robbery of a bus company, but released for lack of evidence.
Sources: INS file 54379/396; FBI file OG 387205; CPC busta 1382; Eugene Lyons, Assignment in Utopia; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background.
Umberto Colarossi
Born: 1894, Carpineto, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Bookkeeper Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist shortly after arriving in the United States; associated with Luigi Galleani and Cronaca Sovversiva. From 1917 to 1919, he resided in Mexico in order to avoid the U.S. military draft. He was arrested in Chicago in May 1919 and deported on July 15, 1920.
In September 1921, he wrote a letter to an Italian government representative renouncing his previous radicalism. He was inducted into the Italian military in 1922 and later became a manager for the Singer Corporation in Italy. In 1929, the Fascist government reported that he demonstrated loyalty to the regime.
Sources: INS file 54616/214; CPC busta 1400; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background.
Sam Colbus
Born: 1879, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two children remained in Russia when he emigrated to the US. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919 and was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/592.
Amy Colyer (née Withall)
Source: Richmond Palladium (IN), January 8, 1920.
Born: 1881, London, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A university-educated daughter of a dress manufacturer, she was active in the Independent Labour Party and married fellow ILP member William Thomas Colyer before the couple emigrated to the U.S. to escape the wartime British political atmosphere. Joined the Socialist Party of America in Boston in 1916 and became branch secretary in 1917. In 1919, she joined the Communist Party of America and served as secretary of its Boston branch. Arrested with her husband during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and detained at Deer Island Prison. During interrogation, she stated, “As a communist I am opposed to all capitalist governments,” and when asked “Do you understand the form of government that you are enjoying in the United States?” she replied “I am not enjoying it, but I think I understand it.” After losing an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, she and her husband were deported on April 11, 1922.
After returning to England, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Labour Party, left for the CPGB in 1926, and later resumed activity in the Independent Labour Party. She anonymously collaborated on many of her husband’s writings.
Sources: INS file 54810/162; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Deportation Cases of William T. and Amy Colyer (Government Printing Office, 1920).
William Thomas Colyer (a.k.a. Tom Colyer)
Born: 1883, London, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Writer Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Opposed the First World War as a member of the Independent Labour Party. Immigrated to the United States in 1915 with his wife and fellow ILP member, Amy Colyer. Joined the Socialist Party of America in Boston in 1916 and became a leading figure in the Massachusetts organization, which he helped transfer into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Wrote for several radical publications and served on the editorial staff of The Communist. Although he declared his intention to naturalize in 1916, he later abandoned the effort, citing disillusionment with U.S. political institutions. Arrested with his wife during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 an detained at Deer Island Prison, where he helped organize a prisoners’ “soviet.” After losing their appeal, he and his wife were deported on April 11, 1922.
After returning to Britain, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Labour Party. Served as secretary of the Communist-affiliated Greater London Left-Wing Movement and the National Left-Wing Movement, but resigned amid conflicts with the CPGB in 1926. Published Americanism: A World Menace (1922) and The Worker’s Passport: A Study of the Legal Restrictions on Migrant Workers (1928). Ran unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1931 and 1935 as a Labour Party candidate. In 1942, he rejoined the Independent Labour Party and later served on its National Administrative Council. Died in 1956.
Sources: INS file 54810/209; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Deportation Cases of William T. and Amy Colyer (Government Printing Office, 1920); Lawrence Parker, Communists and Labour: The National Left-Wing Movement, 1925–1929.
James Cully (a.k.a. Jimmy Cully)
Born: c. 1870, Ireland Nationality: British Ethnicity: Irish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: IWW
As a member of the Industrial Workers of the World during the First World War, led a group of approximately 200 draft resisters in Rockford, Illinois. All were arrested, and 112 were convicted. Sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to interfere with military conscription and deported to England on June 21, 1919.
After deportation, he continued to be active as a street speaker for the Merseyside branch of the IWW in Liverpool. Also implicated in illegal activities on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
Sources: Gerald E. Shenk, “Work or Fight!”: Race, Gender, and the Draft in World War One; Socialist Review (London), February 1, 1959; Liverpool Echo, June 28, 1923.
George Cyzyk (a.k.a. Paul Gigalko; Paul Zygaloff)
Born: 1896, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A member and lecturer for the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Cleveland in February 1918 and again in New York during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Anarchist literature, including copies of The Anarchist Soviet Bulletin, was found in his home. Also suspected of involvement in a counterfeiting scheme. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54379/125; FBI file OG 375385.
Jan Dalkovksy (or Dalkowsky)
Born: 1896, Płock Governorate, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America; IWW
Joined Polish Local No. 28 of the Socialist Party of America in Erie, Pennsylvania, in January 1918, and transferred into the Communist Party in 1919. He was also a member of the IWW. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Poland on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54809/280.
Ivan Danilovich (a.k.a. John Danilovich)
Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. Became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/390; FBI file OG 388677.
John Dardzinski
Born: c. 1905, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Shade maker Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party, he was arrested in Hamtramck, Michigan, in January 1920 and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Born: 1894, Grodno Governorate, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
His wife remained in Russia when he emigrated. Became a member of the Communist Party of America in Detroit and was deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.
Born: 1893, Volodymyr-Volynskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Tire maker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Communist Party in Detroit in December 1919. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Born: 1899, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two children remained in Russia while he emigrated. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1919 and was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November of that year. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/203.
Mikhail Degtyarev (a.k.a. Michael Diaktarow)
Born: 1889, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh before affiliating with the Union of Russian Workers in Universal, Pennsylvania, in 1917. Served as acting secretary of his URW branch and possessed a large quantity of anarchist literature. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. During interrogation, he expressed a desire to return to Russia because “The work is exceptionally hard here and we are not given the opportunity to learn the English language and customs and therefore I find myself very inconvenient in this country.” Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/217.
Kalistrat Demco (or Demes)
Born: 1892, Brest, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Waiter Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/560.
Gerasim Demianoff (or Herasim Demianow)
Born: c. 1897, Branew, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Russian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Employed at Ford Hospital in Detroit. Joined the Socialist Party of America and later the Communist Party of America. Arrested in January 1920, he was detained at Fort Wayne. Expressed a desire to return to Russia and was permitted to “voluntarily depart” aboard the SS Canada from Montreal on September 25, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54811/9.
Ivan Denczyk (a.k.a. John)
Born: 1884, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 (via Canada) Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated. Joinedthe Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia and later in Ansonia, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/325; FBI file OG 8000-383591.
Yakim Denisyuk (or Denisuk; a.k.a. Jack Denison)
Born: 1896, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Toolmaker; weaver Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and three children remained in Russia. Joined the Chester, Pennsylvania branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1918. Appointed as the branch’s delegate to the Philadelphia “Soviet of Deputies.” Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. expressed a desire to remain in the United States, and said of Russian government, “before it was dominated by the Germans and now it is ruled by the Jews.” Provided information to authorities about other URW members in hopes of leniency but was nevertheless deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/451.
Alexander Derkach (or Derkatch)
Born: 1885, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Printer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
In Russia, arrested for membership in the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party and later became an anarchist in 1911. Migrated to Austria, where he was again arrested, and then immigrated to the United States in 1913.
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1915 and was arrested in 1918 for publishing the Russian-language anarchist newspaper Kolokol, edited by Adolf Schnabel. Although he left the URW in 1918, he remained an outspoken anarchist and was arrested again in New York in 1919. Stated to authorities “all governments are based on violence, and supported by an institution of slavery and bayonets.” Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
In 1920, he signed a declaration of the Union of Russian Anarchist Workers Repatriated from America, which offered critical support for the Bolshevik regime as a temporary necessity.
Sources: INS file 54709/674; Victor Serge, Anarchists Never Surrender: Essays, Polemics, and Correspondence on Anarchism, 1908–1938.
Nello di Ciuccio (a.k.a. Nalia Desiuccio)
Born: 1892, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Tailor Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Anarchist; IWW
An anarchist and member of the IWW, he was arrested in San Francisco in 1919 and deported to Italy on May 5, 1920.
In 1941, Italian authorities reported that he had not engaged in political activity since his return.
Sources: INS file 54379/517; CPC busta 1778.
Vincenzo di Lecce (a.k.a. Ebreo Errante)
Vincenzo di Lecce, c. 1937. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1881, Masera, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1905 Affiliation: Anarchist
Joined the American Federazione Socialista Italiana after its formation in 1906 and left it in 1911. Although he had only two years of formal schooling, he taught himself to read. By 1909, he was contributing funds to Cronaca Sovversiva and later became a founding member of the anarchist Gruppo Autonomo of East Boston, alongside Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. Arrested at his home in Athol, Massachusetts, where authorities discovered stolen drills, ammunition, a copy of Luigi Galleani’s bomb-making manual La Salute è in voi!, and correspondence with leading Italian anarchists. He was deported with Galleani on June 24, 1919.
Upon returning to Italy, he was briefly arrested for military desertion but soon released. He married Paoletta Anna in Ancona in December 1919, and the couple emigrated to Buenos Aires in May 1922. There he worked as a mechanic in a textile factory and had three children. In June 1930, he was arrested in Argentina for allegedly harboring members of Severino Di Giovanni’s anarchist group but was released after denying continued involvement in the anarchist movement. In May 1933, Italian authorities classified him as an antifascist subject to surveillance upon return.
Sources: INS file 54379/403; FBI file OG 266288; CPC busta 1794; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background.
Frank Diarkovsky (a.k.a. Franz Dzerkovskie)
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1904 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Active in the revolutionary movement in Russia before immigrating to the United States in 1904. He later moved to Canada in 1912 and returned to the United States around 1915. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Seattle. When authorities asked his nationality, he replied: “I belong to the world. I deny all nationality.” He further declared: “Only ignorant people don’t believe in anarchy…I believe in taking a big cannon and busting up all governments. They are no good.” Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/406.
Joaquín Díaz Álvarez
Born: c. 1890, Ribadesella, Spain Nationality: Spanish Ethnicity: Occupation: Restaurant worker Migration: Immigrated to US unknown year Affiliation: Anarchist
In 1914 employed as a restaurant worker in Havana, Cuba; affiliated with the Cuban anarcho-syndicalist movement and the newspaper El Dependiente. Subsequently migrated to the United States. Deported to Spain on October 31, 1919.
Sources: El Dipendiente, January 28, 1914; Ministerio de Estado, Spain.
