Category Archives: Red Scare Deportees

Hing to Indriunas

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Wong Hing (a.k.a. Harry Hing)

Born: 1899, Guangdong, China
Nationality: Chinese
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Student; restaurant worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: IWW

Entered the United States in 1916 via Mexico without inspection. Worked as a restaurant worker in New York’s Chinatown while attending Columbia University as a student of John Dewey. In January 1919 he was arrested as a leader of an IWW-led strike by Chinese restaurant workers. Deported to China in March 1919 on the charge of illegal entry.

Sources: INS file 54519/2; Baltimore Sun, February 6, 1919; The Rebel Worker, May 15, 1919.

Mikhail Hirney (a.k.a. Mike Hirney; Herney)

Born: 1899, Pokrovka, Samara Oblast, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Store clerk
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliations: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party of America and later became a member and secretary of the Flint, Michigan Russian Branch of the Communist Party of America. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/738.

Mikhail Hladish (or Hladysh)

Born: c. 1885, Galicia, Austria-Hungary
Nationality: Russian (formerly Austro-Hungarian)
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliations: Communist Party of America

His wife remained in Europe when he emigrated. In 1919 he joined the Socialist Party of America and in September of that year transferred into the Communist Party of America. Served as secretary of the Communist Party branch in East Youngstown, Ohio. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54810/553.

Alfred Hoffman (a.k.a. Edward Compe; Edward Kerlap; Edwin Hoffman)

Born: 1886, Hamburg, Germany
Nationality: German
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Sailor; laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1907
Affiliation: IWW

Entered the United States in 1907 after jumping ship in San Francisco. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World around 1913 and repeatedly arrested for strike-related activities in Seattle. During World War I he was interned as an alien enemy at Fort Douglas, Utah. While detained, he stated, “I am not a German, no. I am not patriotic for any country.” He “voluntary departed” on June 23, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54379/64.

Fritz Arthur Holm

Born: 1890, Korsberga, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Carpenter
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: IWW; anarchist

Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1912 and identified as an anarchist. Subscribed to Alexander Berkman’s The Blast and wrote “Strictly opposed to war” on his draft registration card. He also served as secretary of the Scandinavian Defense League. Arrested in Seattle in February 1918, when authorities reported discovering “a wagon load of I.W.W. and anarchist literature” in his room. Deported in July 1919.

After returning to Sweden, Holm married Ellen Hildur Margareta Molin in 1923. Died in 1975.

Sources: INS file 54379/114; Ancestry.com.

Paul Holovkin (a.k.a. Prokop Holowkin; Golowkin)

Born: 1888, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Longshoreman
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliations: Union of Russian Workers

A widower, with a son in Russia. In 1919 he joined Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in Baltimore. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

In 1921 he was reported to have been “shot by the Bolshevik authorities as an active counter-revolutionist.”

Sources: INS file 54709/318; FBI file BS 202600-2386-1.

Andrew Hostilla (a.k.a. Andrey Kastialla)

Born: 1895, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1918 and honorably discharged in December of that year. He later became a member of the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/353.

Peter Hydamachuk

Born: 1893, Podolsky, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Autoworker
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; to US 1917
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Worked as an autoworker in Detroit and was a member of the Machinists’ Union (AFL). attended a Detroit night school run by Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party and signed an application to join the party, though no evidence indicates he became a full member. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/774.

Steponas Indriunas

Born: 1893, Kovno, Russia (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Lithuanian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Became a member of Lithuanian Branch No. 74 of the Communist Party of America in Rockford, Illinois. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/666.

Isaacson to Jackson

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Gussie Isaacson (or Itzickson; née Denenberg)

Born: 1895, Pinsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Housewife
Migration: Immigrated to US 1906
Affiliation: Anarchist

Became an anarchist in New York and was active in the Francisco Ferrer Center. Lived in a common-law marriage with fellow anarchist Jacob Isaacson. After Jacob was ordered deported in 1920, she submitted an affidavit declaring, “I am an anarchist, and a believer and advocate of anarchism,” in order to be deported alongside him. The couple “departed voluntarily” for England on June 20, 1922.

She and Jacob later illegally returned to the United States around 1924 under her maiden name, Denenberg, and she was naturalized in 1940. In interviews conducted in the 1970s, she stated, “Anarchism is a way of life, no matter what your view is of human nature. No authority over you, no slaves under you—that’s the anarchist life.” She died in 1983.

Sources: INS file 54616/202; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America.

Jacob Isaacson (or Itzickson; Jack; a.k.a. Jacob Denenberg)

Born: 1896, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Laborer; locksmith
Migration: Immigrated to US 1908
Affiliation: Anarchist

Migrated to the United States with his mother and sister and became active in New York anarchist circles, particularly the Francisco Ferrer Center, where he was known as “the Rabbi” due to his depth of reading knowledge. Helped publish the anarchist periodicals Revolt (1916) and Freedom (1919). Arrested in May 1919 for an antiwar article published in Freedom, which he accepted responsibility for even though he was not its author, and was indicted under the Espionage Act after the war had ended. In 1920 the case was dropped in exchange for a warrant of deportation. While on bail, he edited The Hotel Worker, organ of the syndicalist International Federation of Workers in the Hotel, Restaurant, Lunchroom, Club, and Catering Industry. Departed voluntarily to England in June 1922 with his partner Gussie Denenberg.

Returned to the United States in 1924 via Canada under Gussie’s maiden name and opened a grocery store in Washington, DC. When Gussie applied for naturalization in 1940, his true identity came to the attention of immigration authorities, who repeatedly threatened him with deportation. He died by suicide in 1946.

Sources: INS file 54616/202; FBI file OG 281175; Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: : An Oral History of Anarchism in America; interview with Helen McGee, July 25, 2022.

Andrew Iswashko

Born: Austria-Hungary, year unknown
Nationality: Austrian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Included on an internal Bureau of Immigration list of radicals deported radicals. Deported to Austria on September 1, 1920. No further biographical information has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

George Ivanov

Born: 1889, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Member of the Communist Party in Bayonne, New Jersey. Deported to Russia on December 23, 1920. No additional biographical information located.

Sources: FBI file BS 202600-601; Butte Daily Bulletin, December 29, 1920.

Dmitry Ivanyuk (or Iwaniuk; a.k.a. James Nouvak)

One of the circulars Ivanyuk was distributing when arrested. National Archives.

Born: 1882, Brodna, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Unknown

His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated. Arrested in Camden, New Jersey in April 1919 for distributing radical circulars calling for a general strike on May Day to free political prisoners. Arrested again in Philadelphia in November 1919. His precise political affiliation remains unclear. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54616/173.

Dmytro Iwankiw

Born: 1884, Stańkowa, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Salesman; journalist; steelworker; labor spy
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

May have joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917 (he denied this after first attesting to it). Recruited in June 1919 by the Armesworthy and Cavitt Detective Agency on behalf of the Youngstown Sheet & Tool Company to inform on Russian radicals. Joined the Socialist Party and then cofounded East Youngstown Ukrainian Branch No. 32 of the Communist Party, serving as its financial secretary, while reporting to company detectives and federal authorities. Arrested during the November 1919 Palmer Raids but released once his informant role was revealed; arrested again January 1920. Although assured by Department of Justice agent J.F. Sawkin that he would be deported to Russia to allay suspicions and then be allowed to reenter the US, and his bail was paid by the Youngstown Sheet & Tool Company, he was arrested in Youngstown for operated an illegal alcohol still on March 26, 1920. Later claimed he was held in solitary confinement and “starved” for about two weeks to extract an incriminating confession. Spent more than a year in detention on Deer Island, and assaulted by other detainees for being an “agent provocateur” and placed in a separate cell for his own protection. Deported May 19, 1921 and not allowed to return.

Sources: INS file 54860/901; FBI file BS 212986; Sidney Howard and Robert Dunn, The Labor Spy.

Jacob Jackotonsky (a.k.a. Jacknowsky; Jakov Zukatansky)

Born: 1891, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Shoemaker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1919. Literate and widely read. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/201.

Herbert Harold Jackson

Born: 1900, Hull, England
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: English
Occupation: Sailor; laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: IWW

Jumped ship to enter the United States and joined the IWW shortly thereafter. Arrested multiple times for IWW activities, including distribution of the IWW Defense Bulletin in Seattle in December 1918. Declared, “My reason for joining the I.W.W. was because I realized that I was not master of my own economic living and that I was opposed to being enslaved in the machine of production. I believe the worker is entitled to all he produces.” Deported on February 27, 1919.

Upon arrival in England, his IWW literature was confiscated and he was placed under surveillance and barred from public speaking. Migrated to Canada in May 1921 intending to return to the United States.

Sources: INS file 54547/15; FBI file OG 347558; Rebel Worker, April 15, 1919.

Jankovich to Justkavich

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

Jerto Jankovich

Born: 1896, Bosnia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Nationality: Yugoslav
Ethnicity: South Slavic
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the South Slavic Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh and transferred into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested in March 1920 and deported to Yugoslavia via Italy on June 22, 1920, during which all of his luggage was lost.

Upon disembarkation in Naples, he was imprisoned for sixteen days due to misfiled paperwork from the Bureau of Immigration. He was then transported with bound hands to Trieste, and incarcerated in six different jails along the route. Writing from prison in Trieste on August 8, 1920, he stated: “The suffering was terrible. I am not able to write you everything about it. I do not think that human beings should be treated that way.”

Sources: INS file 54861/319; FBI file OG 387576.

John Janson (or Johnson; Jensen; a.k.a. Ernest Laukivirs)

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

Born: 1886, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Latvian
Occupation: Sailor; wrestler; model; writer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America

Joined the Lettish Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Boston in March 1917, an affiliation that was not itself grounds for deportation. In 1918, he left Boston intending to return to Russia via the West Coast. Arrested in Denver for allegedly “advocating anarchy” and arrested again in Wyoming in 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.” He expressed a desire to return to Latvia to fight for its independence. Janson was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

He appears to be the “Boston deportee” described by Alexander Berkman who joined the Cheka soon after arriving in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54379/534; Alexander Berkman, The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920–1922).

George Jerevich

Born: Unknown
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity: South Slavic
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Unknown

Deported as a radical to Yugoslavia on September 1, 1920. No additional information regarding his background or political activities has been located.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Johan Johanson (a.k.a. John Johnson; born Jonas Back)

Johan Johanson, c. 1910s. National Archives.

Born: 1874, Finland
Nationality: Finnish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1901
Affiliation: IWW

His wife and two children remained in Finland when he emigrated. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World around 1917. Twice confined to an insane asylum in Idaho, once in 1915 and again in 1918. In September 1919, arrested in Spokane under the state’s criminal syndicalism law and deported to on August 14, 1920.

In September 1920, he was reported to have left Finland for Soviet Russia, and in September 1921 he was rumored to be en route back to the United States.

Sources: INS file 54709/81; FBI file BS 186701-200.

Ragnar Johanson (or Johannson)

Ragnar Johanson, 1918. National Archives.

Born: 1887, Stockholm, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Painter; union organizer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: IWW

Became involved in the Swedish labor movement at an early age, joining the syndicalist Young Socialist League around 1900 and later the Painters Union. In 1910, he participated in the founding congress of the Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (SAC) and became one of its leading organizers and speakers.

After immigrating to the United States in 1912, he joined the IWW and became one of its most prominent Swedish organizers. Assisted Frank Little during the 1917 Butte copper strike, where Little was lynched, and received identical threats against his own life. Johanson was convicted in the federal IWW trial of 1917–18 and sentenced to ten years in prison and a $30,000 fine. His sentence was later commuted in exchange for deportation, and he was deported on January 1, 1923.

Upon returning to Sweden, he resumed work for the SAC as a national lecturer and organizer, managing its publishing house from 1929 to 1954. Briefly imprisoned in 1940 for condemning the Hitler–Stalin Pact and served as treasurer of the anarcho-syndicalist International Working Men’s Association from 1942 to 1954. He died in 1959.

Sources: INS file 54616/58; https://web.archive.org/web/20210513121324/https://www.sac.se/Om-SAC/Historik/Biografier/Johanson,-Ragnar-1887-1959.

David E. Johnson

Born: 1883, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1900; immigrated to US 1903
Affiliation: IWW

Migrated from Sweden to Canada in 1900 and entered the United States in 1903, subsequently moving back and forth between the two countries several times. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916. In March 1918, he was arrested in St. Maries, Idaho, and deported on November 4, 1918.

Sources: INS file 54379/197.

Oscar Johnson (a.k.a. Arthur Ludwig Holden)

Oscar Johnson, 1916. Everett Public Library.

Born: 1893, Göteborg, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: IWW

Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916. He survived the Everett Massacre later that year and was arrested in connection with the incident, though charges were dropped in 1917. He was arrested again in Seattle on January 17, 1918. Immigration officials described him as “quite intelligent,” and “a very undesirable acquisition to the population of the United States.” Deported on November 30, 1918.

Sources: INS file 54379/9.

Mihail Jolnerovitz (a.k.a. Dimtro Jolnerovich)

Born: c. 1896, Vilno Governorate, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Hotel housekeeper
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Anarchist

Active anarchist and a member of the Anarchist-Communist Groups of the United States and Canada. Distributed the underground anarchist newspaper Free Society. Arrested in Cleveland on February 23, 1920, and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 55009/26.

John Justkavich (a.k.a. Sam Ushkovich)

Born: Russia, year unknown
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Communist Party of America in Bayonne, New Jersey. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Russia on December 23, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G; The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey), December 23, 1920.

Kabas-Tarasyuk to Karniski

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Ivan Kabas-Tarasyuk (a.k.a. Vanaya Kabas-Tarasyuk; John Tarasuk; John Tarasyk; John T. Rasky; John Tarasky)

Ivan Kabas-Tarasyuk. Image from G. P. Maximoff, The Guillotine at Work.

Born: 1893 , Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1916. In December 1917, arrested in Akron, Ohio, for attempting to organize a strike among rubber workers but was released on bail. He later became secretary of the Baltimore branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested again in March 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

After returning to Russia, he became active in the anarchist Nabat Federation in Kharkov and was arrested and imprisoned in November 1920. Arrested again in October 1921 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for anarchist activities, during which he was transferred to the Ryazan labor camp, where he was shot during a prisoner riot and almost killed. He then escaped via the Black Sea, possibly reaching Crimea, but returned to Russia in 1922. In 1925, arrested for organizing an illegal anarchist group and sent into internal exile in Arkhangelsk. HExiled again in 1926 to Petropavlovsk for three years for corresponding with anarchists abroad, and in 1929 he was exiled to Tashkent for an additional three years. In 1974, historian Paul Avrich reported rumors that Kabas-Tarasyuk had returned to the United and lived in Chicago.

Sources: INS file 54235/157; 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 (or Katchanov; Kachanow; Katchanos)

Born: 1899, Gukovo, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Union of Russian Workers

Entered the United States in 1917 by jumping ship. He joined the Bristol, Connecticut branch of the Socialist Party of America and later became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested in December 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21.

Sources: INS file 54709/614.

Samuel Kadatsky (or Kodatsky)

Born: Russia, year unknown
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Russia on December 23, 1920. No further biographical has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G; Butte Daily Bulletin, December 29, 1920.

Paul Kalach

Born: Russia, year unknown
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Deported to Russia on January 6, 1921. No additional biographical information has been identified.

Sources: FBI file OG 388114; INS file 54325/36G.

Josef Kalenezcicz (or Kalenczicz)

Born: Russia, year unknown
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Upholsterer
Migration:
Affiliation: Unknown

Deported as a radical to Russia on February 26, 1921. No further biographical information has been found.

Sources: INS file 55110/4.

Ivan Kalenov (a.k.a. John Kaleanoff; John Chaljin)

Born: 1897, Kubasovo, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917. He served as a volunteer organizer for the URW and frequently acted as chairman of meetings and as a delegate to organizational conventions. Also a member of the Workers’ Defense League. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/231.

George Kaltejika

Born: 1890, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. A member of the Union of Russian Workers, he was arrested in Youngstown, Ohio, during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/199.

Stepan Kaminsky (a.k.a. Steve Kaminsky)

Kaminsky’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1896, Podolia, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

In 1919, he joined the Elizabeth, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers, where he taught arithmetic classes and participated actively in organizational life. He also joined the Industrial Workers of the World in October 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/158.

Ivan Kamisoruk (a.k.a. John; Komisaruk)

Born: 1884, Obertyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913 or 1914; immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

His wife and two children remained in Ukraine. In Detroit, he joined Ukrainian Branch No. 128 of the Communist Party of America. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/781.

Samuel Kanovich (or Kanonovich; Kanowich)

Born: 1891, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russia
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Became a member and secretary of the Perth Amboy, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in New York in December 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/649.

John Kanter

Born: Austria-Hungary, year unknown
Nationality: Hungarian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Unknown

Deported to Hungary as a radical on May 8, 1920. No further information regarding his background or political activities has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Gust Karniski

The circular Karniski was distributing when arrested. National Archives.

Born: 1886, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1906
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

He married and had a child while living in Chicago. Joined the Socialist Party of America and was latertransferred into the Communist Party, though he denied this to immigration authorities. In April 1921, he was arrested by “two citizens” for distributing “anarchistic literature,” specifically May Day circulars published by the Communist Party of America. “Voluntarily departed” on May 4, 1923.

Sources: INS file 55009/73.

Katzes to Kircher

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , ,

Arthur Katzes (or Katses; Kestes)

Arthur Katzes, 1919. Springfield News (OH)
December 28, 1919.

Born: 1897, Podolia, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Printer
Migration: Entered the United States without inspection in 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; anarchist

Had been a student in Russia and was apprenticing as a pressman before working as a sailor to finance his passage to the United States in 1914. Around 1917, he joined the Union of Russian Workers and became a member of the editorial board of its newspaper, Khleb i Volia. He was arrested in New York in March 1919 and released on bail. While at liberty, he collaborated in producing the illegal Anarchist Soviet Bulletin. In September 1919, he was arrested again, together with Ethel Bernstein, for distributing copies of that publication. He was deported to Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54616/115; Richard Polenberg, Fighting Faiths: The Abrams Case, the Supreme Court, and Free Speech.

Joe Kaunas (or Kavnas; a.k.a. Bogdonas; Boglonas)

Born: 1885, Russian Lithuania
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Lithuanian
Occupation: Coal miner; student
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Entered the US without inspection in 1913. Worked as a coal miner in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and later attended Valparaiso University. He became a member of Valparaiso Branch No. 20 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested on January 14, 1920. Although he claimed Lithuanian citizenship, immigration authorities deported him to Russia on March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/713.

Teleso Kavalianskas (or Kavalionskas, Kavalauskas; Talespor Kavalanchas; a.k.a. Stanley)

Born: 1881, Kovno, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Lithuanian
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Became secretary of Branch No. 43 of the Lithuanian Federation of the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920. “Voluntarily departed” for Rissia via Canada on October 20, 1920.

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

Joseph Kennedy

Joseph Kennedy, 1919. National Archives.

Born: 1885, Belfast, Ireland
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Irish
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1905
Affiliation: Industrial Workers of the World

Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917 and became secretary of Metal Mine Workers’ Industrial Union No. 800 in Butte, Montana. He worked closely with IWW organizer Frank Little before Little was lynched during the Butte copper strike in 1917. Kennedy was arrested multiple times for IWW activity and was also described by authorities as “active…in the cause of Irish independence.” Arrested again in February 1919 in the aftermath of a miners’ strike and deported on June 21, 1919.

After his return to Britain, Kennedy joined the Merseyside branch of the IWW in Liverpool and involved in underground activities on behalf of the Irish Republican Army, including as an accessory to a botched robbery. In 1924, he was reported to be planning an illegal return to the United States, and emigrated to Canada. Settled in Timmins, Ontario, where he became secretary of the local branch of the IWW’s Metal and Coal Mine Workers Industrial Union. In 1928, after a fire in the Hollinger Gold Mine killed thirty-nine people, Kennedy led a protest meeting of 600 miners “to demand action on the part of those responsible for the murder of our fellow workers.”

Sources: INS file 54616/74; Butte Daily Bulletin, June 13, 1919; Socialist Review (London), February 1, 1959; Ancestry.com; Windsor Star, February 15, 1928.

Ilya Kerczuk (a.k.a. Ellis Kerchuk; Navul Kerchuk)

Born: c. 1898, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer; longshoreman
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Unknown

Worked as a laborer and longshoreman in Camden, New Jersey, and New York. In May 1919, he was arrested in Philadelphia by company guards from the Pusey and Jones Shipbuilding Company of Gloucester City, New Jersey, for distributing what authorities described as “Bolshevik circulars” on company property. Deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54616/173.

Boris Keretchuk

Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported to Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/358.

Nuval Kerget (or Nabul)

Born: 1875, Minsk Governorate, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Lumber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1910
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

First arrived in the United States through Honolulu in 1910 and later settled in Seattle in 1918. Worked as a lumber worker and became a member of the Union of Russian Workers as well as the Industrial Workers of the World in 1919. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/569; FBI file OG 389514.

Ivan Kesevich

Born: Austria-Hungary, year unknown
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Unknown

Deported as a radical to Yugoslavia on September 1, 1920. No further biographical information has been located.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Olan Killen

Born: Unknown
Nationality: Unknown
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: IWW

Included on a list of deported members of the Industrial Workers of the World, and deported on October 31, 1919. No further biographical information has been found.

Sources: One Big Union Monthly, March 1920.

William Kircher

Born: 1892, Hesse, Germany
Nationality: German
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1906
Affiliation: IWW

Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1917. He was arrested in Seattle in May 1918 and interned as an “alien enemy” at Fort Douglas, Utah. Released on condition of “voluntary departure” and left the United States on September 25, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54408/512; FBI file OG 193587.

Kirson to Konavalchuk

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Beril Kirson (a.k.a. Boris; Barnett)

Born: 1872, Mogilev, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Sailor; carpenter
Migration: Immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; Workers’ International Industrial Union

Migrated to England in 1914; then to Canada and back to England in 1916. Jumped ship in the United States in 1917. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Buffalo in July 1919 and was also a member of the Workers’ International Industrial Union. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported to Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919. At the time of his deportation, his wife and four children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/144; FBI file OG 8000-378509.

Joseph Kish

Born: 1889, Aranyosgyéres, Hungary (present-day Câmpia Turzii, Romania)
Nationality: Hungarian
Ethnicity: Hungarian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; IWW

Joined the Hungarian Federation of the Socialist Party of America around 1912 and became a member of the IWW in 1919. Arrested in Cleveland during the May Day disturbances of 1919 and sentenced to thirty days in the workhouse for disturbing the peace. Arrested again in July 1919, he spent nearly nine months confined in the overcrowded and unsanitary Cuyahoga County Jail while awaiting deportation. Deported on March 21, 1920. At the time, his three children were living in Hungary with his mother.

Sources: INS file 54616/236.

Nikolai Kizer (a.k.a. Nick; Nicholas)

Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Alleged to be the secretary of the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, along with his cousin Peter Kizer. Due to an administrative error, Peter was mistakenly sent to Ellis Island while Nikolai remained in the Hartford city jail, but the mistake was later corrected. Nikolai was deported to Russia on January 22, 1921.

Sources: INS files 54709/160 and 54709/265; Bruce B. Sherbert, “The Palmer Raids in Connecticut, 1919–1920,” Connecticut Review 5, no. 1 (1971).

Nikolai Klemiatov (or Nicholas Klemiatoff; Kleminatoff)

Nikolai Klemiatov, c. 1920. National Archives.

Born: 1891, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Not specified
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to the US 1912
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh and transferred to the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested in October 1920 and deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54885/48.

Efim Kochovetz (a.k.a. M. Berisoff)

Born: 1888, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer; organizer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1907
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1914 and later became secretary of the New London, Connecticut branch, where he also taught arithmetic classes in its school. Arrested in Hartford during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/161.

Efim Kolesnikov (a.k.a. John Kolesnikoff; Joachim)

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

Born: 1880, Kursk, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Ship reamer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

A widower, Kolesnikov joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1919. He was arrested and beaten during the first Palmer Raids on November 7, 1919, during the raid on the Russian People’s House in New York. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/454.

Jim Komar (or Jonar)

Born: 1879, Chernihiv, 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 1919. He was arrested in Youngstown, Ohio during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919. His wife and two children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/544; FBI file OG 378979.

Pavel Konavalchuk (a.k.a. Paul)

Born: 1894, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

A member of the Union of Russian Workers in Newark until the organization was broken up in November 1919. Arrested in Newark on January 3, 1920, he openly identified as an anarchist but stated his opposition to violence. Despite having a wife and American-born child in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, he was deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/164.

Konikh to Korostyshevsky

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Gerasim Konikh (a.k.a. John Konik)

Born: Grodnia, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

After his return to Russia, he was sentenced around 1925 to five years in the Solovki prison camp as an anarchist. In 1930, reportedly “entirely in broken health,” he was sentenced to an additional three years of internal exile in Arkhangelsk.

Sources: INS file 54709/545; FBI file OG 378976; 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 (or Kornen; Konol)

Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

A member of the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/352.

Pavel Konon (or Konen; a.k.a. Paul)

Born: Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Communist Party of America arrested in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, and deported to Russia on February 1, 1921. His wife and four children remained in Russia.

Sources: FBI file OG 389419.

John Konopatsky (a.k.a. Anton Konopatsky)

Born: 1895, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Initially a member of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America and later joined the Russian Branch of the Communist Party in Bayonne, New Jersey. Arrested in Newark during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported on January 22, 1921. Had a wife and three children in the United States.

Sources: INS file 54860/163; FBI file OG 384085.

Ignatz Konoval (or Ignance Konowal)

Born: 1894, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Polish Branch of the Communist Party of America in Elizabeth, New Jersey. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported on December 23, 1920.

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

Benjamin Kontrowitz (or Kontorovich; a.k.a. Berl Kanterowicz; B. Kanter)

Born: 1882, Ekaterinoslav, Russia (present-day Dnipro, Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Silk weaver
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Communist Party of America; IWW

A former member of the Left Wing of the Socialist Party of America and joined the Russian Federation of the Communist Party of America in 1919. He served as recording secretary, an executive board member, and a lecturer for its Paterson, New Jersey branch, and was a 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 the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported on November 23, 1920. He was married and had a son living in Paterson.

Sources: INS file 54810/67; FBI file OG 380782.

Vasily Mitin Konyakin (or Vasil Koniakin; a.k.a. Vasil Mitin)

Born: 1873, Saratov, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Rubber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917 and became an officer in its Akron, Ohio branch. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/227.

Feodor Korini (a.k.a. Frank; Korano; Karoni; Butzki)

Born: c. 1888, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Served as financial secretary of Russian Branch No. 2 of the Communist Party in Philadelphia under the pseudonym “Butzki.” Arrested in January 1920, he denied the identity, but multiple witnesses identified him as such. An immigration inspector characterized his testimony as “shifting, evasive, and evidently untruthful in material particulars.” He was deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54809/873.

Zys Korostyshevsky (or Zusil; a.k.a. Joe Kraus)

Born: 1897, Radomyshl, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Garment worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Anarchist

Became a Tolstoyan anarchist in the US, embracing pacifism and agrarian ideals. Arrested in Chicago in June 1917, but the deportation warrant was canceled for lack of evidence. Arrested again in January 1919, he was ultimately deported on March 12, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54235/35.

Korotkov to Kovalenko

Red Scare Deportees, , , ,

Vasily Korotkov (a.k.a. Krotokoff; Koratkoff; Keratkoff)

Born: c. 1875, Saratov Oblast, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1909
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. In the U.S. he joined the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Seattle in December 1919 and deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/526; FBI file OG 389407.

Gregory Koroviansky (a.k.a. George Karoff)

Born: 1891, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Argentina 1912; then to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Buffalo in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919. His wife and child remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/145.

Anton Korshikov (a.k.a. Tony Korschikoff)

Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Described himself as “a fugitive from Czarism.” He was arrested and beaten while attending an arithmetic class at the Union of Russian Workers’ People’s House in New York during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/455.

Wacław Kosiorek

Born: 1894, Russian Poland
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined Detroit’s Polish Branch No. 8 of the Socialist Party in 1914, which later transferred into the Communist Party. Arrested December 29, 1919 and “voluntarily departed” on October 16, 1920, traveling to Russia via Canada and England.

Sources: INS file 54709/860.

Mike Koslick

Born: c. 1889, Pyatigorsk, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Weaver
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party in Philadelphia in 1918 and then the city’s First Russian Branch of the Communist Party in 1919. Arrested in January 1920, he declared, “I am willing to go back to Russia if the Government will deport me.” Seported on February 1, 1921 aboard the SS Estonia. He was married, though records are unclear whether his wife resided in Russia or the United States.

Sources: INS file 54811/936.

Logvin Kostevich (a.k.a. Lenohon or Louis Kostevich)

Born: 1894, Povusk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the “Russian Workmen’s Organization” in Baltimore in 1917 and transferred in 1919 into Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/420.

Gabriel Kosticovitch (pr Kosticowitsc)

Born: 1882, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he “voluntarily departed” the United States via Canada on October 16, 1920.

Sources: FBI file 202600-1380-1.

Konstantin Koszko

Born: c. 1897, Zasieki, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Butcher; meatpacker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Anarchist

Became an anarchist around 1917 and joined the Anarchist-Communist Groups of the United States and Canada. Arrested in Cleveland in February 1921, he defined anarchism by stating: “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 on March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 55009/23.

Anton Kotiak

Anton Kotiak’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1895, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Drafted into the US Army in November 1918 but honorably discharged in March 1919 at his request as an unnaturalized alien. Around September 1919 he joined the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Hartford during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/386; FBI file OG 389393.

Maxwell Kotick (a.k.a. Kotik; Kutick)

Maxwell Kotick’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives

Born: c. 1890, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Clerk
Migration: Immigrated to US 1910
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A widower who was literate in English, Yiddish, Russian, and German. He joined the Socialist Party in 1912 and transferred in October 1919 to the Russian Branch of the Communist Party in Philadelphia. Arrested January 2, 1920, he was deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54810/820; FBI file OG 389320.

Dionisiy Ivanovich Koval (a.k.a. Daniel Kowal; Danny Cowas)

Born: 1884, Lutsk Raion, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1919 and escaped arrest during the Palmer Raids on the Russian People’s House in November of that year. He relocated to Waterbury, Connecticut, where he joined the Union of Russian Citizens (an umbrella organization for Russian progressives). Arrested in March 1920, he was deported on January 22, 1921. His wife and two children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54861/332; FBI file OG 384417.

Foma Koval (a.k.a. Tom Coval)

Koval’s Communist Party card. National Archives.

Born: 1891, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Blacksmith
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined Buffalo’s Russian Branch of the Socialist Party of America, then the Communist Party of America in September 1919. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 554809/438.

Fedor Kovalchuk (a.k.a. Kowalchuk; O.K. Ovalchuk, Olvanichuk)

Born: 1900, Lachka, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Autoworker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the Communist Party of America in Philadelphia. He was deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54811/967; Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1921.

Evgraf Kovalenko (a.k.a. Efgram; Kovaleko; E. Koval)

Born: 1885, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Migrated to England 1906; then to Germany; then Canada 1912; and finally to US 1917
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

His wife and two children remained in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Pittsburgh and was described by local authorities as “one of the worst radicals in the city.” Arrested in May 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year.

At an unknown later date, he and his family were sentenced to internal Russian exile in the Omsk region of Siberia.

Sources: INS file 54616/176; FBI file OG 8000-360780; 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 (a.k.a. Fred Konert)

Born: 1892, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1911; then to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Detroit in February 1918 and distributed Russian anarchist and IWW publications. Arrested in May 1919, he was deported January 22, 1921.

He appears to have illegally returned to the United States, where in 1939 he was active in Detroit’s Dielo Truda Group and described as a comrade “capable of doing great work of the organizational-educational type in the movement.”

Sources: INS file 54616/187; FBI file OG 369234; Lazar Lipotkin, The Russian Anarchist Movement in North America.

Kovalevich to Kozy

Red Scare Deportees, , ,

Fedor Kovalevich (a.ka. Frank Kowalawich)

Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Rubber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked for B. F. Goodrich and spent nearly a year in the US Army stationed at Camps Sheridan and Jackson in Alabama. He joined the Akron branch of the Union of Russian Workers in April 1919 and told immigration agents, “By Internationalism I mean that there should not be different countries or different nations.” He was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/534; FBI file OG 376750.

Iakov Kovalevich (a.k.a. John or Jacob Kowalewich)

Born: 1889, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to the US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Formerly a member of the Socialist Party of America before joining the Hartford branch of the Union of Russian Workers in September 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year. His wife remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/402.

Ilya Kovalsky (a.k.a. Louis Kowalsky; Kuznetz)

Kovalsky’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: Russia, year unknown
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

A member of the Union of Russian Workers arrested in Ansonia, Connecticut during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year. His immigration file is incomplete.

Sources: INS file 54709/496.

Józef Kowalski (a.k.a. Joseph or Joe; A. Gorny; Jan Gómy)

Source: Don Binkowski Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University.

Born: 1890, Łódź, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Polish
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Silk weaver; editor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the left faction of the Polish Socialist Party in Łódź, where he distributed illegal literature and was imprisoned from 1907 to 1910 for assaulting a foreman.

In the United States he worked as a silk weaver in Paterson, New Jersey, joined the Polish Section of the Socialist Party of America, and participated in strikes in Passaic and Philadelphia. By 1919 he was secretary of the Polish Federation of the SPA, on the executive board of its newspaper Głos Robotniczy, a delegate to the founding convention of the Communist Party of America. Became a member of the CP’s central committee and secretary of its Polish Bureau. Arrested in Kansas City in September 1919 for making a “disloyal and inflammatory speech,” he was imprisoned for unlawful assembly and deported to Poland upon his release on March 17, 1921.

Made his way to Moscow, where his wife and child later joined him, and briefly served as a court investigator for Butyrka Prison and attended the Third Congress of the Comintern in July 1921 under the name “Jan Gómy.”

He illegally returned to the United States via Canada in 1922 to organize on behalf of the Comintern but was arrested in New York and sentenced to eighteen months in federal prison. After his release both Poland and Russia refused to issue passports for deportation, leaving him free on bail. He later served on the Executive Board of the Communist Party and administered the newspaper Glos Ludowy, founded in 1923, eventually settling in Detroit. During the 1930s he was a district manager for the Daily Worker, a section leader in CP District No. 7, coeditor of the monthly Trybuna (1936–1938).

He returned to Poland in 1949, joined the ruling Polish United Workers’ Party, and held various administrative posts. Died in Łódź in 1960.

Sources: INS file 54709/486 (missing); FBI file OG 8000-143411; New York Herald, August 9, 1922; Don Binkowski Papers, Walter P. Reuther Library; 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 (a.k.a. Kosario; Kozaric; Kosaric)

Born:
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Unknown

Deported to Yugoslavia on April 14, 1920 as a radical. No further information has been located.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Ivan Kozlik (a.k.a. John Cozich; Gustko)

Born: 1893, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1908
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Elizabeth, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1917. Arrested in New York during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/363.

Vasil Kozlov (a.k.a. Kozlow)

Born: 1893, Gomel, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked as a hauler in the Jamison No. 9 coal mine in Farmington, West Virginia. Like many members of the Union of Russian Workers, he had farmed in Russia before emigrating, explaining: “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.” Arrested December 1, 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year.

Sources: INS file 54709/601; FBI file OG 8000-379018.

Vasily Kozlovch

Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party before becoming a member of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920 and held at Fort Wayne, he was deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/379.

Osip Kozorez (a.k.a. Joseph Koza; Joe Koza)

Born: 1881, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Newark in January 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he participated in a five-day hunger strike on Ellis Island protesting installation of a wire screen separating detainees from visitors. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919. His wife and four children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/342; FBI file OG 379013.

Ivan Kozy (a.k.a. John Kozy)

Born: 1894, Uman, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US March 1919
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Crossed into the United States at Niagara Falls in March 1919 and joined the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year.

Sources: INS file 54709/332.

Krachie to Krutz

Red Scare Deportees, , , ,

Pavel Krachie (a.k.a. Paul; Kreczin)

Born: 1891, Saratov, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Served in the Russian Army in the Caucasus before emigrating.

In the United States he worked for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company in Akron, Ohio, and joined the Union of Russian Workers around 1915. Arrested in December 1917 for attempting to organize a strike of rubber workers and released on bail. Deported on January 22, 1921. His wife remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54235/158.

Tikon Krasnov (a.k.a. Tehon Krassnoff)

Born: 1888, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Carpenter; miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Philadelphia branch of the Union of Russian Workers and in November 1919 organized an eight-member URW branch in Barracksville, West Virginia, at Jamieson Coal and Coke Company Mine No. 7. Arrested December 2, 1919, “in possession of a considerable amount of anarchistic literature,” he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21. His wife and three children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/625; FBI file OG 389365.

Faras Kravchuk

Born: 1894, Komarów, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Factory worker
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1916
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party in 1919 and later became a member of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party. Arrested in January 1920, he was deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/972.

Peter Krawchuk

Born: 1885, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1912 or 1913; immigrated to US 1916; returned to Canada 1917; reentered US 1918
Affiliation: Industrial Workers of the World; Communist Party of America

Joined IWW Branch no. 517 in Spokane in 1919. Arrested January 4, 1920 at the Detroit Communist Party’s House of the Masses, he answered “Yes” when asked whether he believed in Communist Party doctrine. Held at Fort Wayne, he was deported March 18, 1921. His wife and child remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54860/27.

Natale Krilete (a.k.a. Boso)

Born: Austria-Hungary
Nationality: Austrian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown
Affiliation:

Deported as a radical to Austria on June 29, 1920. No further information has been located.

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

Alexander Krishtal (a.k.a. Aleksey Kryshtall)

Born: 1893, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1907
Affiliation: Anarchist

Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921 but was refused entry at Libau, along with several other deportees, because of his anarchist beliefs. In response, he coauthored “An Open Letter to the Russian Premier Lenin.”

He later returned to the United States and lived in the anarchist colony at Mohegan, New York, into at least the 1940s. He died in Lindenhurst, New York, in 1961.

Sources: Free Society (New York), Oct.–Nov. 1921; Ancestry.com.

Felip Krishtepowich

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown
Affiliation:

Deported as a radical to Russia on October 16, 1920. No further information has been located.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Teodor Krishtop (a.k.a. Theodore Krishtiop)

Born: 1885, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked at Jamieson Coal and Coke Company Mine No. 9 in Farmington, West Virginia. He joined both the Union of Russian Workers and the United Mine Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was described as being “of a surly, non-communicative disposition” and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919. His wife and two children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54709/598.

Maxim Kruk (a.k.a. Max Kroock)

Born: 1881, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Worked at Detroit’s Studebaker Plant No. 3. Joined Ukrainian Branch No. 1 of the Socialist Party in Detroit in 1911, which in 1919 became Ukrainian Branch No. 22 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and held at Fort Wayne, he “voluntarily departed” for Russia via Canada on October 14, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54859/778; FBI file BS 202600-714-1.

Pavel Krupka (a.k.a. Paul Krupkie; Krupkic)

Born: 1893, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked for the Republic Rubber Company and joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21 of that year.

Sources: INS file 54709/195.

John Krutz

Born: 1888, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1918
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Worked for the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn. He joined the Socialist Party around 1918 and later transferred to Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 4, 1920, he was deported March 18, 1921. His wife and three children remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54859/962.