Steve Pivarsky
Born 1892, Veliki Bečkerek (present-day Zrenjanin), Austria-Hungary (present-day Serbia). Serbian. Migrated to US 1912. Autoworker. Employee of the Fisher Body Corporation in Detroit. 1913 joined Branch No. 61 (later Branch No. 17) of the South Slavic Federation of the Socialist Party of America; 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, April 14, 1920.
INS file 54860/374; FBI file OG 388055
Jacob Plajek
Deported to Poland, August 1, 1920. No further information found.
Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G
Mike Podalak
Deported to Austria, June 19, 1920. No further information found.
Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G
Mathew Podlipsky (Матвей Подлипский)
Born 1887, Rakitnitsa, Russia (present-day Belarus). Polish-Belarusian. Laborer. Migrated to US 1909. A member of the Union of Russian Workers branch in Newark. Deported on the Buford.
INS file 54709/356; FBI file OG 381187
Marko Podner
Born 1892, Okrug, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Croatian. Laborer; miner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Croatia-Slavonia. June 1919 joined Branch No. 62 of Communist Party of America in West Winfield, Pennsylvania; became its secretary. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, June 19, 1920.
FBI file OG 8000-382563
Wolf Pohl (aka Pawlowicz; Pavlovich)
Born c.1896, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Jewish. Migrated to US 1912. Housepainter. Joined the Socialist Party in 1913, then the Communist Party. Communist speaker and literature distributor in Buffalo. December 1920 joined the IWW as well. August 1919 arrested for distributing radical literature, but released. Arrrested again January 1920. Confined at Erie County Jail, where contracted pneumonia that required transfer to hospital for treatment. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.
INS file 54859/912
George Polevoy (Полевой)
Born 1883, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Miner. Migrated to US 1907. Joined the IWW circa 1914 in Moundsville, West Virginia; also a member of the United Mine Workers (UMW). Participated in a miners’ strike protesting the conviction of Tom Mooney, and another in protest of the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs. Arrested June 1918 for disturbing the peace during a dispute with UMW leaders; sentenced to $50 fine and ten days in jail (UMW member William Bursey later testified against Polevoy as a leader “of the foreign element [in the union]…they have made all kinds of trouble.” Arrested August, 1919. Described by immigration agent as “exceptionally shrewd and astute.” Deported February 1, 1921. Wife and child in US.
INS file 54709/49
Josef Polulech (Йозеф Полулех; Joseph; aka Joseph Balluch)
Born 1892, Grodno region, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Arrested during raid on the Union of Russian Workers’ “Russian People’s House” in New York during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Denied membership in the URW (and no evidence of membership was produced); claimed he was only there to attend arithmetic and Russian classes. He had, however, been an active member of New York Methodist Episcopal Church of All Nations since 1913, and several church leaders attempted to intervene on his behalf. Deported on the Buford.
INS file 54709/449; FBI file OG 8000-382493
See also: The Churchman, January 24 and February 21, 1920; Constantine M. Panunzio, The Deportation Cases of 1919-1920
Jacob Popich
Born 1892, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Laborer. Member of the South Slavic Branch of the Communist Party of America in Omaha. Arrested in St. Paul, Nebraska, January 8, 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, July 15, 1920.
Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G
See also: Omaha Daily Bee, January 9, 1920
Serjy Porchunoff (Sergy; Sergey)
Born 1888, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Served in Russian Army for two years. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Employed by Standard Oil. Joined the Russian Branch of the Whiting, Indiana branch of the Socialist Party in 1914, then the Communist Party; secretary of both branches. Arrested Chicago, January 7, 1920; deported to Russia March 18, 1921.
INS file 54809/82
Andrew Postaruk (Pestaruk?)
Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921. No further information found.
Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G
Efrim Potenkin (Ефрим Потемкин; Efrem; Efreem; Potemkin)
Born 1897, Gomel, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Steelworker. Attended meetings of the Union of Russian Workers in Monessen, Pennsylvania, but denied being a member and no evidence of membership produced. Arrested in Greensburg, Pennsylvania during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Immigration Inspector in Charge recommended cancelation of the deportation warrant for lack of evidence, but overruled by Commissioner General A. Caminetti. Deported on the Buford.
INS file 54709/519
See also: Kate Holladay Claghorn, The Immigrant’s Day in Court
