Tag Archives: Austrian

Pivarsky to Potenkin

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Steve Pivarsky

Born: 1892, Veliki Bečkerek, Austria-Hungary (present-day Serbia)
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity: Serbian
Occupation: Autoworker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Employed by the Fisher Body Corporation in Detroit. In 1913 he joined Branch No. 61 (later Branch No. 17) of the Socialist Party’s South Slavic Federation, transferring into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported to Yugoslavia on April 14, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54860/374; FBI file OG 388055.

Jacob K. Platek (or Platat)

Born: 1889, Podolovka, Russia
Nationality: Polish
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Laborer; foundry worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated. He joined the Socialist Party and in 1919 became a member and financial secretary of Polish Branch No. 80 of the Communist Party in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Arrested January 2, 1920, he was deported to Poland August 4, 1920.

Sources: File 54859/527.

Mike Podalak

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

Deported to Austria as a radical on, June 19, 1920. No further information has been identified.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Mathew Podlipsky

Matthew Podlipsky’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1887, Rakitnitsa, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish-Belarusian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1909
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

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

Sources: INS file 54709/356; FBI file OG 381187.

Marko Podner

Born: 1892, Okrug, Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia)
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity: Croatian
Occupation: Laborer; miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

His wife remained in Croatia-Slavonia while he emigrated. In June 1919 he joined Branch No. 62 of the Communist Party in West Winfield, Pennsylvania, becoming its secretary. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported to Yugoslavia June 19, 1920.

Sources: FBI file OG 8000-382563.

Wolf Pohl (a.k.a. Pawlowicz; Pavlovich)

Wolf Pohl’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.

Born: c. 1896, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Housepainter
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America; IWW

Joined the Socialist Party in 1913 and later the Communist Party, becoming a speaker and distributor of literature in Buffalo. Arrested August 1919 for distributing radical material but released; arrested again January 1920. While confined in Erie County Jail he contracted pneumonia and required hospitalization. December 1920 he joined the IWW. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/912.

George Polevoy

Born: 1883, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1907
Affiliation: IWW

Married with a child in the United States, he joined the IWW around 1914 in Moundsville, West Virginia, and also belonged to the United Mine Workers. Participated in miners’ strikes protesting the conviction of Tom Mooney and the imprisonment of Eugene V. Debs. Arrested June 1918 for disturbing the peace during a dispute with UMW leaders and sentenced to a $50 fine and ten days in jail; a union witness described him as a leader “of the foreign element…they have made all kinds of trouble.” Arrested again August 1919 and described by an immigration agent as “exceptionally shrewd and astute.” Deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54709/49.

Osip Polulechka (a.k.a.Josef Polulech; Joseph Balluch)

Born: 1892, Grodno region, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers (alleged)

Arrested during the November 1919 raid on the Union of Russian Workers’ Russian People’s House in New York. He denied URW membership and said he had only attended arithmetic and Russian classes; no evidence of membership was produced. He had, however, been active since 1913 in the Methodist Episcopal Church of All Nations, whose leaders attempted to intervene on his behalf. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/449; FBI file OG 8000-382493; 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)
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

A member of the South Slavic Branch of the Communist Party of America in Omaha. Arrested in St. Paul, Nebraska, January 8, 1920 and deported to Yugoslavia July 15, 1920. No further information has been identified.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G; Omaha Daily Bee, January 9, 1920.

Sergey Porchunoff (a.k.a. Sergy; Serjy)

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

Served two years in the Russian Army.

In the United States, employed by Standard Oil. Joined the Russian Branch of the Whiting, Indiana Socialist Party in 1914 and later the Communist Party, serving as secretary of both branches. Arrested in Chicago January 7, 1920, and deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54809/82.

Andrew Postaruk

Born: 1881, Kiev Governorate, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: .
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Previously emigrated to and worked in Austria and Germany. His wife and two children remained in Russia.

In 1918 he joined the Union of Russian Workers in Seattle. He told authorities, “I don’t believe in any government,” but also “stated believe in change through the ballot as a I fear that bloodshed would ensue by bringing a revolution through force of arms.” Arrested January 1920 and deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/542.

Efrim Potenkin (or Potemkin)

Born: 1897, Gomel, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russia
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Steelworker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers (alleged)

He attended meetings of the Union of Russian Workers in Monessen, Pennsylvania, but denied membership and no evidence of such was produced. Arrested in Greensburg during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. The Immigration Inspector in Charge recommended cancellation of his deportation warrant for lack of evidence, but was overruled by Commissioner General A. Caminetti. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/519; Kate Holladay Claghorn, The Immigrant’s Day in Court.

Siluch to Sokolovsky

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Ludwig Siluch (Siluh; Siluk)

Born 1897, Dubica, Russia (present-day Poland). Polish. Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1914; from there migrated to US 1918. March 1919 joined Branch 37 of the Polish Section of the Socialist Party of America in Detroit; then branch transferred into the Communist Party of America. Detroit. Hamtramck. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntarily departed” via Canada and Germany, October 14, 1920.

INS file 54859/644; FBI files OG 384187 and BS 202600-772-1

Giuseppe Simeone (Joe; Simone)

Born 1888, Caserta, Italy. Tailor. Claimed, “In Italy I was a republican.” Migrated to US circa 1903. Lived with a cousin in Sommerville, Massachusetts, where he became an anarchist and supporter of Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva (from which he won a bicycle in a 1906 raffle!). Returned to Italy circa 1907 due to illness; served in Italian military. Again migrated to US in 1913. Member of the anarchists Circoli di Studi Sociali in Haverhill, Massachusetts, and continued to support the Cronaca Sovversiva. Also a member and one-time local secretary of a garment workers’ union affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. Arrested in Boston May, 1918, after his correspondence with Cronaca Sovversiva was confiscated in a federal raid on that newspaper in February 1918. Admitted he was “a socialist anarchist,” but claimed to have only become a radical in 1916. Deported to Italy May 24, 1919.

Upon arrival in Naples June 6 sent to a military prison as a military deserter, then amnestied in 1920. Italian government reported in 1926 that he had “only local influence” in the anarchist movement in Naples, but he also corresponded with Errico Malatesta and subscribed to Malatesta’s Pensiero e Volontà, and visited Malatesta in Elena in July 1925. Placed under surveillance. 1926 emigrated to Canada. 1927-30 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and still active in anarchist movement. 1930s in Brooklyn, subscribing to L’Adunata dei Refrattari. 1935 reported to be living under the name “Gioacchino Simeone” (Gioachino was his middle name).

INS file 54379/316; CPC busta 4815

See also: Cronaca Sovversiva, November 3, 1906

Peter Siniavski (Pete; Siniavsky; Siniawsky)

Born 1897, Chernihiv Oblast, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Migrated to US 1913. Steelworker. Member of the Communist Party of America in Pittsburgh. Arrested in Woodlawn, Pennsylvania, January 1920. Described by an immigration agent as being “of a morose, sullen disposition and is one, who, in my judgement, would be capable of doing harm to this country if the opportunity offered.” Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

INS file 54860/768

Andrew Sinitza

Born 1895, Minsk region, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Factory worker. Employed as an inspector at Ford Motor Company in Detroit. 1917 joined the Socialist Party; 1919 transferred into Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920; held at Fort Wayne. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 55009/25

Gabriel Siniza

Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/43

Yakov Sinov (Яков Синов; Jacob Sinoff; Synov; Synoff; Finoff; Zinoff; aka Smith)

Born 1894, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Already a “revolutionist” in Russia. Migrated to US 1915. Carpenter. Member of the Union of Russian Workers branch in Trenton, New Jersey. Roommate of Buford deportee Roman Mosichuk. Deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54861/255; FBI file OG 379221

Onasin Sivicky (Onasim)

Born 1886, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1910. Laborer. Wife in Russia. Member of the Communist Party in Rockford, Illinois. “Voluntary departure” to Russia, October 16, 1920.

INS file 54709/942

Grigori “Harry” Skochuk (Zjuk)

Born 1893, Grondo region, Russia (probably in present-day Poland). Migrated to US 1912. 1917 joined the Union of Russian Citizens (an umbrella organization for Russian progressives) in Waterbury, Connecticut; circa 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York City. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/447

Matfey Skorina (Матфей Скорина; Mike Skorena)

Born 1895 in Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Wife in Russia. Member of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. “Voluntarily departed” to Poland via Canada, October 30, 1920.

INS file 54859/704

Konstantin Skorokod (Константин Скорокод)

Born 1885, Russia. Miner. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. Worked at Jamieson No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia, where he joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. in Fairmont, West Virginia. Arrested December 3, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/588

Peter Skrigan

Born 1893, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1912. Laborer. Wife and child in Detroit. Arrested January 1920 while attending a geography class at a Communist-run night school. Denied Communist membership, but admitted to believing specific Communist doctrines. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/665

Grigori Ivanovich Skrobat (Григорий Иванович Скробат; Gregory; Skrobet)

Born 1895, Osęka, Russia (present-day Poland). Migrated to US 1914. Laborer. Member of the Union of Russian Workers in Waterbury, Connecticut. Arrested March 1920. Deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54861/374; FBI file OG 385383

Peter Skudney

Born 1891, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913. Machinist. Employed by Ford Motor Company at Highland Park. Joined the Socialist Party, then Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested Detroit January 1920. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/57

Nikolai Slyvka (Николай Сливка; Nickoli)

Deported to Austria, May 8, 1919.

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

Andrey Smal (Андрей Смаль; Andy)

Born 1893, Volhynia region, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1912. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/512

Abram Snikarenko (Абрам Сникаренко; Snicarenko; Sniewrenko)

Born 1888, Russia. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Joined the Socialist Party, then September 1919 joined the Communist Party of America in Pittsburgh. Participated in 1919 steel strike. Arrested January 1920. Deported February 26, 1921.

INS file 54860/645

Malakhiya Sokolovsky (Malachia; Sokolofski; Sokolowski)

Born 1892, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1909. Wife and two children in US. Secretary of Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Baltimore. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Denied being an anarchist; admitted to being a communist. Deportation initially deferred because of his family in the US. Deported February 1, 1921.

INS file 54709/110

Stalzer to Stechishin

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

Franz Stalzer (Frank)

Born 1896, Reinthal, Austria. Machinist. Migrated to US 1913. Worked as a lathe operator in Cleveland; engaged to a domestic worker named Lena Schmuck. Circa 1917 joined the Socialist Party of America. Drafted into the US Army (despite the fact that as an unnaturalized alien he was not eligible for conscription, and had claimed exemption on his registration card, though he cited “no reason”). Trained at Camp Sherman in Chillicothe, Ohio; arrested by military police February 1918 after it was reported that “he said that if he were sent to the Mexican border [to fight Pancho Villa] he would fire on his own officers and that he otherwise appeared antagonistic to the war,” and that he had two brothers “in the Austrian Army” who he did not wish to shoot (and later stated had been killed by the French). However, he also “expressed his dislike for Germany” and “says he wants the allies to win.” He was interned in the stockades until the end of the war. After his release he transferred into the Communist Party of America. September 1919 took out a declaration of intent to naturalize. Arrested in Cleveland, January 1920, as an alien “anarchist.” Deported to Yugoslavia, January 1, 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

FBI file OG 146923

See also: Chillicothe Gazette, February 28, 1918; Ancestry.com

John Stanger (Ivan Shtanger)

Born 1891, Bohatikiwei, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland). Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1911. Janitor. Caretaker of of the Ukrainian Home in Hamtramck, Michigan that housed Branch No. 56 of the Ukrainian Federation of Communist Party. Member of Branch No. 8 of the Ukrainian Federation of the Communist Party, for which he was a “delegate to the local committee” of the Ukrainian Federation. Wife and four US-born children in Detroit. Deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54861/191, FBI file OG 386410

Konstantin Stankevich (Константин Станкевич; Konstantine; Contanti; Stankewich; Stankevitz; aka Kostuk Clarensky)

Born 1894, Grodno region, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Joined Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Detroit in 1918. Arrested April 1919 for participating in “disturbance” during a talk by Catherina Breshovsky that was critical of the Bolsheviks. Declared that he “desires to return to Russia.” Contracted tuberculosis while detained on Ellis Island. Deported January 22, 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54616/172

See also: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society

Yevgeny Starikevich (Евгений Старикевич; Eugei; Evgenu)

Born 1890, Demenichi, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919, while on strike. Deported on the Buford. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54709/542

Simon Starovotenko (Симон Старовотенко; Skarowojyuko)

Born 1880, Morozovka, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1913; from there to US 1914. Wife and two children in Russia. 1918 joined a Russian branch of the Socialist Party of America in Philadelphia, as well as the Philadelphia branch of the Union of Russian Citizens (an umbrella organization for Russian progressives). 1919 transferred into a Russian Branch of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. Deported February 1, 1921. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS file 54859/904

Feofan Stavishuk (Stauisuski; Alfrance Staveshuke, Alfonso Stavinsky, Jack Stavinsky)

Born c.1892, Katalinka, Volhynia, Russia. Migrated to the US in 1913. Electrician, laborer. Joined the IWW, but quit it in 1917. Member and financial secretary of Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party in Pittsburgh. On February 1, 1917, at Jones and Laughlin iron yard, he was “struck by a sixteen-foot iron bar, on my face and chest,” and hospitalized more than nineteen months and left “crippled” and deformed. According to his own attorney, he was “a man of small stature, thin, yellow, emaciated, with a countenance partially torn away and ‘rubbed off’ as it were by a great iron bar in an accident that occurred some four years prior to the arrest; but a stub of a former nose remains on his fact and two red blotches of skin protrude in the middle of his face and take the place of former lips. He makes a horrible appearance. One’s first impulse, when looking at the man, is to recoil and shudder.” Afterward, he resumed work at same company, but suffered repeated periods of unemployment due to “sickness” resulting from injuries to chest that made hard labor impossible. Arrested in Cleveland in 1920; deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54861/381

Nikolai Stechishin (Николай Стечишин; Nicholas; Stichishin; Stecsysyn)

Born 1888, Hlesczawa, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ukraine). Ruthenian. Miner. Migrated to North America 1908 and became naturalized Canadian citizen. Migrated from Kaslo, British Columbia, to Spokane, Washington in 1913; returned Kaslo and migrated to Spokane again in 1916. Joined the IWW at an unknown date. Arrested in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, in March 1920 as part of local authorities’ “attempt to break up the I.W.W. element in the district”; indicted for criminal syndicalism. Deported to Canada September 28, 1920. However, in 1926 he managed to migrate to Alaska from Steward, British Columbia. Subsequent activities unknown.

INS 54325/36G

See also: Ancestry.com; The Spokesman-Review (Spokane WA), March 21 and 24, 1920

Tataranovich to Tori

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , ,

Victor Tataranovich (Виктор Татаранович)

Born 1889, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Laborer; machinist. Migrated to Argentina 1909, then Panama 1912, then to the US 1913. Employed by the Ford Motor Company. 1918 joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party of America, which in September 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids, January 1920. “Voluntarily departed” via Canada, October 16, 1920.

INS file 54859/973, FBI files OG 386338 and BS 202600-710-1

Josef Teichman (Joe; Feichman)

Born 1890, Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, Austria-Hungary (present-day Poland). Miner. Migrated to US 1912. Worked in a mine in Vestaburg, Pennsylvania. Joined the Socialist Party of America branch in Vestaburg in 1918; 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Pittsburgh. December 1919 became branch secretary. According to Immigration Inspector in Charge W. W. Sibray, “He is a nice clean-cut appearing fellow and does not impress me as being one who would be implicated in a project against the interest of this government. He does, however, belong to the Communist Party of America and is its secretary, and if it is the policy of the Department [of Labor] to deport persons who belong to that organization, then this man should be deported to the country whence he came.” “Voluntarily departed” to Poland, October 20, 1920.

INS file 54809/281; FBI file OG 386882

Nik Telatitski

Telatitski’s URW membership card

Born 1893, Brest-Litovsk, Russia (present-day Brest, Belarus). Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. Union of Russian Workers. Youngstown, Ohio. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/541; FBI file OG 8000-379688

Afanasy Timonatnko

Deported to Russia, October 16, 1920. No further information found.

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

Jacob Tiomny

Born c. 1892, Minsk Governorate, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1910. Reamer. 1918 joined Socialist Party of America in Baltimore; transferred into Communist Party of America in 1919. Wife and three US-born children in Baltimore. Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921.

INS file 54809/704

Konrad Tkach (Конрад Ткач; Kondrat; Conrad Kachur)

Born c.1888, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Poland). Migrated to the US 1913. Member of the Communist Party of America in Bayonne, New Jersey. Deported to Russia December 23, 1920.

INS file 54810/946

See also: The Morning Post (Camden NJ), December 12, 1920.

Mike Tkach

Born c.1894, Russia. Migrated to US 1914. Steelworker. Member and financial secretary of Pittsburgh local the Communist Party of America. Arrested February 20, 1920. Married after his arrest and petitioned for his new wife to accompany him to Russia. Deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

FBI file OG 8000-193906; INS file 54861/186

Gerasim Tkachuk (Harry; aka Levchenko)

Tkachuk and his family

Born 1893 in Brest-Litovsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1910. Laborer; autoworker. Married wife Maria 1913, had three US-born children. Contracted rheumatism as a tunnel worker. Employed at Ford Motor Company and family lived in Hamtramck. Arrested November 7, 1919 in Detroit. Denied being a member of the Union of Russian Workers, but admitted to attending “over 100” radical meetings in Detroit and “lecturing on socialism.” Deported March 18, 1921.

1922 reported to be in New York, having secretly returned as a representative of the Communist International.

INS files 54709/289 and 54709/447

Benjamin (“Benny”) Tobak (Toback; Tabak; aka Benjamin Pasweg)

Born 1898, Austria-Hungary. Printer. Date of migration to the US unknown. Member of the Communist Party of America in New York. Arrested December 8, 1919, and again in January 1920 and charged with “criminal anarchy.” Refused to answer questions during his immigration hearing. Deported to Austria June 19, 1920.

Illegally returned to the US via Mexico; arrested and in February 1926 sentenced to five months imprisonment in El Paso County Jail. May 1948 the FBI reported that he had been seen in New York City. Further investigation revealed no further information.

INS file 54860/999; FBI file OG 377698

See also: New York Herald, November 3, 1919

Spas Todorov (Спас Тодоров; Sam; Todoroff)

Born 1898, Bulgaria. Construction worker. Migrated to US 1917. 1918 lived in Toledo, Ohio. 1919 joined the Communist Party of America in Buffalo. Arrested December 28, 1919 in Lusk Committee raid on Buffalo’s CP headquarters. Initially indicted for “criminal anarchy,” but then turned over to Immigration authorities for deportation. Deported September 8, 1920.

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

See also: Ancestry.com; Buffalo Courier, December 30, 1919; Buffalo Evening News, January 10, 1920

Nicholas Torbiak (Nick)

Born 1895, Galicia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Migrated to the US 1909. Miner. Wife Martha and infant son in Coal Run, Pennsylvania. Member, along with wife, of the Ukrainian Federation Branch No. 59 of the Communist Party, in Coal Run. Involved in 1919 miners’ strike. Martha, pregnant, died in custody along with newborn child. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54885/74; FBI file OG 8000-385816

Iacopo Tori (Jacopo; Jacob; aka Louis Tori)

Born 1892, Montecarlo, Lucca, Italy. Laborer. Migrated to US with his father circa 1907; both returned to Italy circa 1908; Tori again migrated to the US 1909. 1913 became an organizer for the IWW and an active member of its Latin Branch in San Francisco. Arrested September 19, 1916 for “disturbing the peace” while protesting the conviction of Warren Billings. Active in anti-conscription agitation during World War I; in 1917 he hand-wrote a placard displayed at the IWW’s headquarters in South San Francisco reading: ” The clergy and the capitalists want war but they are not going to war. Imitate them!” December 20, 1917 arrested in San Francisco for avoiding the draft (for which he was not legally eligible!); he was in possession of a false passport and allegedly planning to make is way to Tijuana. Defendant along with 45 other IWW members in federal trail in Sacramento for violating the Espionage Act; engaged with most of the other defendants in a “silent defense” by refusing to participate in the proceedings. Sentenced to ten years in Leavenworth Penitentiary. In Leavenworth he was repeatedly disciplined for refusing to do work. August 1919 authorities at Leavenworth confiscated a letter from Tori to his older brother in Italy, reading: “The penal institutions of this rotten bawdy-house, American democracy, will never succeed in keeping in chains within the walls of shame the spirit of good men; this rises above the walls and goes where it will. I am sorry to hear that you are still a solider. I understand very well, though I have not tried it myself, that being a soldier in a monarchy is a dog’s life. Military life is a dog’s life anyway.” Sentence commuted December 1923 on condition of deportation. On eve of their deportations, Tori and two other IWW members “asserted that they will carry on the work of the Industrial Workers of the World when they are released, whether it be in this country or in a foreign land.”

Deported March 29, 1924. Imprisoned in Italy upon arrival for avoiding Italian military service and conscripted into the 79th Infantry Regiment until October 1925. Returned to Montecarlo, where authorities in 1936 reported his “good conduct in general, without giving rise to any kind of political remarks”; he was removed from the Italian government’s list of “subversives” that same year. On August 12, 1944, during the German occupation of Italy, he was seized by Nazis and executed for illegal possession of a handgun.

FBI file OG 110181; CPC busta 5160

See also: Kenyon Zimmer, Immigrants Against the State: Yiddish and Italian Anarchism in America; Iacopo Tori, Il processo muto di Sacramento, Cal. (1919); St. Joseph Gazette (St. Joseph MI), December 27, 1923; Vasco Ferretti, La Resistenza nel pistoiese e nell’area Tosco-Emiliana (1943-1945): rivisitazione e compendio di una terribile guerra di liberazione, guerra civile e guerra ai civili.

Urkevich to Vazenas

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Peter Urkevich (Петр Уркевич; Urkevitch; Yurkovics; Yurkewicz; aka John Jorkevits)

Born unknown year , Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus). Shirt presser. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and two children in Russia. 1919 joined Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Federal agents claimed he was treasurer of the branch; he claimed to be illiterate. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 7, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/212; FBI file OG 378953

Josip Vargo (Joseph; Varga; aka Jospeh Vasek)

Vargo’s Communist Party membership card

Born 1881, Zákány, Austria-Hungary (present-day Hungary). Grew up in Croatia; Croatian speaker. Steelworker. Migrated to US 1913. Wife and three children in Croatia. 1916 joined the South Slavic Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Youngstown, Ohio; 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Participated in 1919 steel strike at Youngstown Sheet and Tube Company. Arrested February, 1920. Deported to Yugoslavia, September 1, 1920.

INS file 54861/122

Angelo Varricchio

Born 1892 near Naples, Italy. Migrated to US 1910. Tailor. Joined the IWW and the syndicalist Federazione Socialista Italiana in Utica, New York; secretary of FSI branch. Arrested 1916 for protesting trial of Carlo Tresca. Arrested November 11, 1918 and December 18, 1918 after a music teacher adjacent to his workplace reported him for “seditious utterances.” Deported to Italy March 27, 1919.

Italian authorities noted no political activity after his deportation.

INS file 54517/90; CPC busta 5327

See also: New York Call, March 28, 1919

Vasiliy Vaschuk (Василий Ващук; Wasily Waschuk; aka Porify Silkuko; Proify Silnko)

Born 1892, Volhynia region, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1913. Wife in Russia. October 1919 joined Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Arrested in the first Palmer Raids, November 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/330

Mikhail Vaseyko (Михаил Васейко; Michael; Wassiko; Vaseiko; Mike Vsiko)

Born 1890, Volhynia region, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1913; from there migrated to US 1916. Wife and child in Russia. Member of the Union of Russian Workers branch in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 20, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/388; FBI file OG 8000-133915

Zachary Vaseyko (Захарий Васейко; Zach Wasciki)

Born 1886, Pidhorodna, Volynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1913; from there to the US in 1916. Wife and three children in Russia. Inconclusive evidence that he was a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut, though he did attend several of its meetings and signed up for its automobile school. Arrested in raid on Hartford URW hall November 25, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/398

Iosif Vasilenko (Иосиф Василенко; Joseph; Joe; Wassilenko)

Born 1881, Kiev Governorate, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Machinist. Migrated to US 1907; returned to Russia 1912; again migrated to US 1913. Wife and child in Russia. Twice arrested during 1919 strike at American Brass Company in Ansonia, Connecticut. Arrested again during the first Palmer Raids, November 7, 1919. Authorities claimed he belonged to the Union of Russian Workers, but he denied this and claimed he belonged only to the Socialist Party of America. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/236; FBI file OG 379009

Nikolai Vasilyev (Николай Васильев; Nicholas; Wasilieff; aka Adam Vlasoff)

Born 1883, Podolian Governorate, Russia (present-day Ukriane). Ukrainian. Sailor. Already an anarchist in Russia. Migrated to US 1912. Joined Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in New York; says he quit the URW because it “does not consist of anarchists, but merely of people who want education.” Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 11, 1919. Stated, “I believe that the history of government is the history of organized burglary.” Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/99

Konstantin Vasiliuk (Константин Василюк)

Born Lemburg, Austria-Hungry (present-day Lviv, Ukraine), c.1890. Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1909. Laborer. Married to deportee Maria Vasiliuk. Four American-born children, ages two weeks to four years in January 1921. Member and secretary of the Ukrainian Branch of the Communist Party of America in Coal Run, Pennsylvania. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

Included on list of deported radicals in INS file 55110/4

Maria Vasiliuk (Мария Василюк; Mary)

Born c.1895, Lviv (Lemburg), Russia (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1915. Housewife. Married to deportee Konstntin Vasiliuk. Four American-born children, ages two weeks to four years in January 1921. Member of the Communist Party of America in Coal Run, Pennsylvania. Deported to Russia, February 26, 1921.

IINS file 54885/74

Stefan Vasiluk (Стефан Василук; Stephan; Wasiluk)

Born c.1892, Saratov, Russia. Migrated to US 1916. Laborer. Joined of the Union of Russian Workers in New York around 1917. Admitted to holding anarchist beliefs and agreeing with the ideas of Peter Kropotkin. Arrested February 1920. Deported January 22, 1921.

INS file 54861/133

Vasily Vasilyevich (Василий Васильевич; Wasilly; Wasilewics; Wasylewics; Wasylevicz)

Deported to Russia, October 2, 1920.

Included on lists of deported radicals in INS file 54325/36G and FBI file BS 202600-33

Stanley Vazenas (Stasys)

Born 1887, Kamay, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania). Lithuanian. Migrated to the US in 1913. Wood finisher. Joined the Socialist Party in 1917, then the Lithuanian Branch of the Communist Party in Rockford, Illinois, of which he became chairman. Arrested January 1920. Originally was to be deported to Lithuania, but as he had no relatives there, at his request he was deported to Russia on February 26, 1921, on the SS Zeeland.

INS file 54860/692

Yarmovics to Zamora

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

Constanti Yarmovics (Constant)

“Voluntarily departed” to Austria, May 8, 1920. No further information found.

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

Mikhal Yarosevich (Михал Яросевич; Mihal)

Born 1889, Saratov Oblast, Russia. Steelworker. Migrated to US 1911. October 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch Youngstown, Ohio. Was participating in the 1919 steel strike when arrested November 10, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/177

Andrew Yarosevick (Jarosevich, Jaroschwicz)

Born 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1914. Arrested in Youngstown, Ohio, November 9, 1919, at a convention of the Union of Russian Workers. Unemployed at the time, and claimed to be illiterate. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/175

Fred Yarovoy (Фредрих Яровой; Yarovoi)

Born 1895, Russia. Laborer. Migrated to US 1915. Member of Branch No. 2 of the Union of Russian Workers in Philadelphia. Arrested November 15, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/317

Alex Yartim (Yarstein; Jorhem)

Yarim’s Communist Party membership card

Born c.1889, Rozeta, Russia (present-day Belarus). Belarusian. Migrated to US 1909. Baker. Member and treasurer of Communist Party branch in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Arrested in Philadelphia, January 1920. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

INS file 54859/342

Dimitry Yasinsky (Дмитрий Ясинский; Yasensky; Yesinsky)

Yasinsky’s URW membership card

Born 1886, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine). Laborer. Migrated to Canada 1911; from there migrated to US 1914. Wife in Russia. April 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids, November 15, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/385

Ivan Yatsyshen (Иван Яцышен; John Yatzyshen)

Yatsyshen’s Communist Party membership card

Born c.1898, Nastasiv, Austria-Hungary (present-day Ukraine). Ukrainian. Migrated to US 1913. Laborer. Employed by Standard Oil in Buffalo, New York. Joined the Socialist Party, then the Communist Party’s East Side Ukrainian Branch, for which he was secretary. Deported to Russia, February 1, 1921.

INS file 54809/566

William Yaukum (Yankum; Yankul)

Born 1893, Russia. Miner. Migrated to US 1913. 1919 joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in Fairmont, West Virginia. Arrested December 2, 1919. Deported on the Buford.

INS file 54709/594

John Yereb

Born 1883, Köflach, Austria. Migrated to US 1896. Laborer, miner. Employed in various jobs across the US. Involved in several United Mine Workers strikes in 1900s. 1914 joined the IWW in Mohall, North Dakota; 1920 appointed general delegate for the IWW. Active in 1919 coal strikes in Illinois. Arrested March 31, 1920 in Bellville, Illinois; in possession of a large amount of IWW literature and correspondence. Deported March 28, 1921.

Pregnant wife Laura in US; gave birth to daughter June 1921. John almost immediately left Austria for Germany, from which he sailed to Tampico, Mexico, and from there joined the crew of a ship headed to Portland, Maine, where he disembarked July 30, 1922 and was detained. His case gained significant press coverage, and the deportation warrant was dropped after it was confirmed that he had in fact become a US citizen in 1900 at age seventeen by virtue of his stepfather’s naturalization. Laura died in Bellville in 1952; he died there in 1957.

INS file 54861/401; FBI file OG 383910

See also: St. Louis Post-Dispatch, September 17 and October 15, 1922; St. Louis Star, October 17, 1922; Nashville Journal (Nashville IL), February 7, 1957

John Zabrian

Born 1894, Minsk region, Russia (present-day Belarus). Migrated to US 1913, then Canada later that year; returned to US 1918. Laborer. Joined the Socialist Party, then Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Deported to Russia, March 18, 1921.

INS file 54860/377

George Zaklan

Born c. 1891, Mogorić, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia). Serbian. Migrated to US 1909. Laborer. Early 1919 joined the Socialist Party, then Detroit’s Serbian Branch No. 212 of the Communist Party. Requested deportation to Russia rather than Yugoslavia, which was granted; deported March 18, 1921.

INS file 54859/700

J. Zamora

Deported IWW member. No further information found.