Tag Archives: IWW

Legeze to Levchuk

Red Scare Deportees, , ,

Mike Legeze (or Legeza)

Mike Legeze’s URW membership book. National Archives.

Born: 1890, Ułęż, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. He was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/384.

Terentius Leonov (a.k.a. Thomas Leonoff)

Terentius Leonov, 1910s. National Archives.

Born: 1885, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Shoemaker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1918 and the Bridgeport, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in August 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/377.

Mikail Leshchuk (a.k.a. Michael Lestchuk; Listchuk)

Born: 1891, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined Philadelphia’s URW Branch No. 1 in early 1919 and became its secretary. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/210; FBI file OG 380953.

Arthur Lesiga (or Lessiga)

Born: 1889, Petrograd, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Sailor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the International Seamen’s Union and the Union of Russian Workers in New York in 1918. A Justice Department agent claimed he served as treasurer of the URW newspaper Rabochii i Krest’ianin. He lived in a common-law marriage with widow Jennie Garnitz, who had a young son. Arrested in Pittsburgh in July 1919 as a “notorious anarchist,” he was released on bail but rearrested December 3, 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21.

In 1921 he signed a statement of the Union of Russian Anarchist Workers Repatriated from America, which critically supported Bolshevik rule as temporary. He was later arrested by the Soviet government at an unknown date.

Sources: INS file 54709/118; FBI file OG 371524; Victor Serge, Anarchists Never Surrender: Essays, Polemics, and Correspondence on Anarchism, 1908–1938; https://ru.openlist.wiki/%D0%9B%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B8%D0%B3%D0%B0_%D0%90%D1%80%D1%82%D1%83%D1%80_%D0%90%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%87_(1889).

Karl Lesse (a.k.a. Carl or Charles Lesse; Oswald Dönitz; Joseph Duncan)

Karl Lesse, 1919. National Archives
Karl Lesse, 1937. National Archives of Britain.

Born: 1894, Hamburg, Germany
Nationality: German
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Sailor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: IWW

Left Germany at age fourteen and later joined the Sailor’s Union of the Pacific. In San Francisco in 1916 he joined the IWW and became a delegate. Arrested in February 1919 as “likely to become a public charge,” he was released on bail but rearrested in Arcata, California, in November 1919 for violating the state criminal syndicalism law. Convicted and sentenced to one to fourteen years, he was imprisoned at San Quentin from January 1920 to May 1922, then deported March 4, 1922.

In Germany he briefly joined the syndicalist Freie Arbeiter Union Deutschlands, then joined the Communist Party of German and worked as an underground agent for the Communist International’s Department of International Communications (OMS) in Europe and Shanghai during the 1920s and 1930s.

Sources: INS file 54616/17; Stephen M. Kohn, American Political Prisoners: Prosecutions under the Espionage and Sedition Acts; Brigitte Studer, Travellers of the World Revolution: A Global History of the Communist International; Barry McLoughlin et al., Kommunismus in Österreich, 1918–1938; Security Service: Personal (PF Series) Files, KV2/1399, National Archives, Kew, England.

Daniil Levchuk (a.k.a. Daniel Levozuk)

Born: 1874, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Levchuk, who had a wife and seven children in Russia, joined the Union of Russian Workers in Buffalo in 1918 and was sent as a delegate to its New York conference in January 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/21.

López García to Lurie

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Francisco López García (a.k.a. Frank R. Lopez; José Marinero; Jesus Legendario; Alberto Martín; Albert Martin)

Francisco López c. 1923. Boston Public Library.

Born: 1885, A Coruña, Spain
Nationality: Spanish
Ethnicity: Galician
Occupation: Sailor; carpenter
Migration: Immigrated to US 1904
Affiliation: Anarchist

Became one of the most prominent Spanish-speaking anarchists in the United States, contributing to Spanish-language radical newspapers internationally. He collaborated on Cultura Obrera (1911–1925) and helped launch its successor Cultura Proletaria (1927–1953). A photograph seized during his 1918 arrest suggested that he also participated in the Mexican Revolution with the anarchist Partido Liberal Mexicano. In Boston he belonged to the Grupo Rebelión and helped found the Grupo Fraternidad, which corresponded with anarchist groups across Europe and the Americas. In 1912 he married Italian widow Rosa [Rose] De Matteis. Though close to Luigi Galleani’s circle, he rejected advocacy of violence. Arrested February 1918 in a federal raid, agents described him as “practically the only real Spanish anarchist leader in the eastern part of the United States.” Ordered deported in November 1918, he was released on bond while appealing on the grounds that he was a nonviolent “philosophical anarchist.” Joined Boston’s new International Revolutionary Group, which published the Spanish-language single-issue anarchist magazines El Azote (1921) and America (1922). Became secretary of the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee in 1920 and coordinated extensive international propaganda. Separated from his wife around this time. After the Supreme Court ruled against him in 1924, he was deported to Spain on May 25, 1925.

According to different accounts, he either jumped ship and swam ashore with help from anarchist sailors, or returned to North America later in 1925 after arriving in Spain. He lived for several years in Canada with his companion Mary Berkowitz, later returning to New York under the name Alberto Martín. In 1953 he married anarchist organizer Rose Pesotta (as “Albert Martin”); they divorced after two years. He coauthored the book Breve historia del movimiento anarquista en Estados Unidos de América del Norte and died in 1967, leaving $500 in his will to the Mexican anarchist newspaper Tierra y Libertad.

Sources: INS file 54379/511; Bieito Alonso, Inimigos ás portas: Frank López e o anarquismo global; Francis Russell, Tragedy in Dedham: The Story of the Sacco-Vanzetti Case; Elaine J. Leeder, The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer; Alberto Martin, Vladimiro Muñoz, and Federica Montseny, Breve historia del movimiento anarquista en Estados Unidos de América del Norte; Tierra y Libertad, June 1967.

Andrew Lopitsky

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

Explained his immigration by saying Russians were “oppressed” and “had heard of better wages and freedom in America”heard of good wages and freedom in America.” He joined the Union of Russian Workers in Downs, West Virginia. Arrested December 2, 1919, in connection with a URW-organized miners’ strike at a Consumers Fuel Company mine, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/591; FBI file OG 380920; Charles H. McCormick, Seeing Reds: Federal Surveillance of Radicals in the Pittsburgh Mill District.

Adolfo Lorenzini (a.k.a. John Lorenzini)

Adolgo Lorenzini, c. 1921. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.

Born: 1887, Modena, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Anarchist

Became an anarchist around 1914 or 1915 while living in Spring Valley, Illinois, and subscribed to the Italian anarchist paper Umanità Nova. Deported March 1, 1921.

Emigrated to Nice, France in 1922 and joined the French Communist Party, though Italian consular surveillance recorded no political activity on his pary.

Sources: INS file 54885/16; CPC busta 2839.

Ivan Loshakov (a.k.a. John Loshakoff)

Born: 1891, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Lumber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Around 1917 Loshakov became an anarchist and joined the URW in Granite Falls, Washington, later serving as secretary of its Seattle branch. Arrested in Seattle in January 1920, he was deported January 22, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/398; FBI file OG 387801.

Prokopy Losiov (or Losioff; Lasioff)

Born: 1891, Chernigov, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer; miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

His wife and child remained in Russia. After collapsing from heat while working in a Pittsburgh steel mill, he was confined for nine months in the Woodville Asylum in Allegheny County in 1917. He later moved to Fairmont, West Virginia, joined the United Mine Workers and URW, and participated in the 1919 miners’ strike. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/600.

Anthony Lovenetsky (a.k.a. H. Levinensky)

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

Joined the IWW and in early 1919 became secretary of the URW branch in Monessen, Pennsylvania, where he chaired meetings. Immigration officials described him as “far above the average in intelligence.” Arrested in Pittsburgh in May 1919 and released after four days, he was arrested again during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 while on strike at Page Wire Works. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/474; One Big Union Monthly, May 1920.

Vasily Lukashuk (a.k.a. Wiliam Lukov; Lukow)

Born: 1896, Brest-Litovsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Lost three fingers and the use of his left arm in an accident at the Youngstown Sheet & Tube Company. He briefly joined the Socialist Party around 1915 and became a member of the URW branch in Youngstown in 1916. Arrested while on strike in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/539; FBI file OG 375161a.

Andrew Lukianow (a.k.a. John Wilichko)

Andrew Lukianow, c. 1919. National Archives.

Born: 1885, Mogilev, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked at the Arctic Ice Cream Company in Detroit and had a wife and child in Russia. Arrested November 7, 1919, authorities seized anarchist literature and correspondence with a URW secretary. Detained more than six months before being granted bail, he claimed his name was John Wilichko and Andrew Lukianow was a friend of his, but multiple witnesses identified him as Lukianow. Deported March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54709/314; FBI file OG 380910.

Chaim Lurie (a.k.a. Michael Loorie)

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Cabinetmaker
Migration:
Affiliation:

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

Sources: INS file 55110/4.

MacDonald to Makarevich

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , ,

John Alex MacDonald (a.k.a. J.A. MacDonald)

IWW, J. A. MacDonald, 13133 Leavenworth, Sept 7 or 8, 1918
John Alex MacDonald, 1918. National Archives.

Born: c. 1882, Cape Breton, Canada
Nationality: Canadian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer; soldier; foreman; journalist; editor
Migration: Immigrated to US c. 1901
Affiliation: IWW

Served nine years in the US Army at Vancouver, Washington, before discharge due to tuberculosis contracted during service. He joined the IWW around 1913 in Kansas City and became editor of The Industrial Worker in Seattle in May 1916, actively defending members prosecuted after the Everett Massacre. A defendant in the federal IWW trial (1917–1918), he was sentenced to ten years. His wife Kate (Katherine Beidel), whom he married in 1918, edited the paper during the trial until July 1918. His sentence was commuted in 1923, and he was deported to Canada August 5, 1923.

In Canada he continued organizing for the IWW and writing for its US publications through at least 1926, including organizing agricultural workers alongside fellow deportee Sam Scarlett.

Sources: INS file 54616/145; FBI file OG 8000-41990; Industrial Workers of the World Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University; Heather Mayer, Beyond the Rebel Girl: Women and the Industrial Workers of the World in the Pacific Northwest, 1905-1924; James Sullivan, “Reviewing the 1925 Harvest Drive,” Industrial Pioneer, November 1925; J. A. McDonald [sic], “Training for Freedom,” Industrial Pioneer, March 1926; J. A. MacDonald, “The Reforging of Russia,” Industrial Pioneer, May 1925.

Samuel Mackway

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported to Russia as a radical on January 22, 1921. No further information has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Victor Macur

Born: 1887, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Polish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party of America in August 1919, which soon transferred into the Communist Party. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he accepted “voluntary departure” and left for Poland via Canada October 16, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54859/984; FBI file OG 387500.

Nils Madsen

Nils Madsen, 1960s. Arbeiderbladet, July 26, 1965.

Born: 1886, Drammen, Norway
Nationality: Norwegian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1904
Affiliation: IWW

Joined the IWW in 1912 and became General Organizer for the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Union No. 500 around 1916, facing repeated arrests for organizing. Arrested March 26, 1918, in St. Maries, Idaho under a criminal syndicalism law, he was deported November 4, 1918.

Back in Norway he lectured widely about US conditions and cofounded a Norwegian-American Defense Committee for imprisoned IWW members. By 1922 he was organizing for the Norwegian Labour Party and led its radical youth scouting organization, the Norges Røde Speiderforbund. After the party split in 1925 he sided with the expelled pro-Communist faction, but then appears to have abandoned Communism. From 1934 to 1955 he was an organizer and official of the Norwegian Union of Hotel and Restaurant Workers (Norsk Hotell-og Restaurantarbeiderforbund). He died in 1965.

Sources: INS file 54379/199; “Norwegian Workers Come to the Aid of the I. W. W.,” One Big Union Monthly, March 1, 1919; Sondre Ljoså, “‘Etter beste evne at alltid være en god kamerat’: Speiderarbeid i arbeiderbevegelsen på 1920-tallet,” Arbeiderhistorie (2007); Harald Berntsen, Alle rettigheter!: hotell- og restaurantarbeiderne i service og strid gjennom 75 år.

Piotr Mager (a.k.a. Peter Magyar)

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

Joined the URW in Youngstown, Ohio around 1915. Arrested in August 1919 and again during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/498.

Ivan Maiboroda (a.k.a. John Mayborada)

Born: 1885, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: IWW; Union of Russian Workers

Belonged to the Socialist Revolutionary Party in Russia before emigrating.

In the United States he joined the IWW in Butte and later, in 1919, joined the URW in Seattle. Deported to Russia January 22, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/471.

Vinko Majetic

Born:
Nationality: Croatian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported to Croatia as a radical on September 1, 1920. No further information has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

George Makaranko (or Makarenko)

Born: 1893, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Makaranko, who had a wife and children in Russia, belonged to Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920, he was deported March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/621.

Lavrenti Makarevich (a.k.a. Lawrence Makarvitch)

Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, records state he was deported January 22, 1921. However, a Department of Justice agent reported that he attended a URW conference in New Haven June 4, 1922 as a delegate of that city’s Russian Progressive Organization. His wife Sophie Babitz, living with her parents in Connecticut, reportedly wished no further contact with him. It remains unclear whether he was deported and returned, never deported, or the report of his later return was mistaken.

Sources: INS file 54709/399.

Makliarchuk to Manninger

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Lazar Makliarchuk (or Matliarchok)

Makliarchuk’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1878, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party of America and later the Communist Party of America in Philadelphia. Arrested January 7, 1920, he was deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54811/943.

Ivan Malash (a.k.a. John Malash)

Born: 1891, Aleksandrovka, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Mason; laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the Norwich, Connecticut branch of the URW in October 1919 and became its financial secretary. Arrested at his home in Yantic, Connecticut, February 1920, he was deported January 22, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54861/10; FBI file OG 353738.

Vasily Malevsky (a.k.a. Wassily Maliewsky)

Born: 1898, Khomsk, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Newark in April 1919, though evidence suggested he may have been a member as early as 1917. Arrested during a raid on URW headquarters in Akron, Ohio, during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/536.

Dan Malina

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

Worked in New Castle and Elwood, Pennsylvania, and later in Akron for Firestone. Arrested November 1919 for belonging to the URW, he denied radicalism and was released for lack of evidence. Rearrested February 22, 1921, he admitted being an anarchist and was deported March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 55009/21; FBI file OG 8000-355192.

Karl Malmstrom

Born: 1897, Ystad, Sweden
Nationality: Swedish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1915
Affiliation: IWW

Joined the IWW in Portland, Oregon, December 1916. Arrested February 1917 in San Francisco for distributing IWW literature and sentenced to sixty days, he was arrested again in Seattle in 1918 on the same charge and in Everett, Washington, March 1919, when he was held for deportation. Asked if he wished to become a US citizen, he replied, “Never…I am a citizen of the world,” and stated “that workers should be ready to take up arms for industrial freedom”For the workers to get industrial freedom, I would pick up arms at any time…Just like in Russia—do away with the parasites.” He was deported June 29, 1919 as “likely to become a public charge.”

Sources: INS file 54616/34.

Ustin Manko (a.k.a. Austin; Justyn)

Ustin Manko, c. 1935. Unidentified clipping, INS file 54861/146.

Born: 1894, Kherson, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Bridgeport, Connecticut, May 1919. Arrested February 1920, he married Julia Chervenak while on bail from Ellis Island May 11, 1920. Deported January 22, 1921, accompanied by Julia.

In Ukraine they had a son. Suspected by Bolsheviks of being a spy, he migrated with his family in 1924 to Turkey, then France (where a daughter was born), and in 1927 to Mexico (where another son was born). Julia, a US citizen, returned to the United States in 1932 and brought their children in 1933, but Manko was forced to remain in Mexico City. His attempts to rejoin them failed after a US Public Health inspector deemed him “insane.” Letters to his family became increasingly paranoid and incoherent. He died in Mexico City in 1976. He is the subject (under the name “Austin Voronkov”) of the semi-fictional novel The Invention of Exile (2014) by his granddaughter, Vanessa Manko.

Sources: INS file 54861/146; FBI file OG 8000-382402; https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/what-happens-to-the-deported; Vanessa Manko, The Invention of Exile: A Novel; interview with Vanessa Manko, New York City, June 13, 2018.

Pavel Manko

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported to Russia as a radical on January 22, 1921. No further information has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Julius Manninger (a.k.a. Julius Pichler; Julian)

Born: 1896, Ponitz, Austria-Hungary (present-day Hungary)
Nationality: Austrian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1909
Affiliation: Socialist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party and attended a single meeting of the Communist Party of America. Arrested January 1920 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, he was deported to Austria June 22, 1920 as an alleged Communist Party member.

In February 1921 Assistant Secretary of Labor Louis F. Post concluded that the deportation had been carried out in error due to a misunderstanding of the facts. Manninger returned to the United States in December 1921 under his family name, Pichler, and declared his intention to become a US citizen.

Sources: INS file 54859/122; Hancock Democrat (Greenfield IN), January 26, 1922; Garrett Clipper (Garrett IN), January 30, 1922.

Mansevich to Martinovsky

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , ,

Nikolai Mansevich (a.k.a. Nicholas)

Political cartoon about Mansevich’s case, 1926. Agnes Inglis Papers, Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University of Michigan.

Born: 1886, Biaroza, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Polish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Autoworker
Migration: Immigrated to US circa 1911
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

An employee of the Ford Motor Company, Mansevich lived in Hamtramck, Michigan with his wife and four American-born daughters. A member of Detroit’s URW Branch No. 3 and distributor of the paper Volna, he was arrested in September 1921. Despite a large national defense campaign and press coverage, he was deported June 7, 1924 to Poland.

Letters he sent his wife in 1926 described “intense suffering,” including frostbitten feet while working in a lumber camp. His wife, meanwhile, was ill and dependent on welfare assistance. At an unknown date (one source suggests around 1940) he migrated to Canada and worked as a farmer. It appears he never reunited with his wife and children, who remained in Detroit. He died in Windsor, Ontario, in 1960.

Sources: INS file 55119/18; Agnes Inglis Papers, Joseph A. Labadie Collection, University of Michigan; The New Republic, September 17, 1924; The Windsor Star, March 10, 1960; Ancestry.com.

Vito Mariani

Vito Mariani, c. 1920. National Archives.
Vito Mariani, c. 1950s. Francesco de Rogatis et al., eds., Morra de Sanctis: Tra cronaca e storia ad un anno del terremoto.

Born: 1882, Morra Irpina (present-day Morra De Sanctis), Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US c. 1910
Affiliation: Anarchist

An anarchist from his youth, Mariani became a prominent activist in Lynn, Massachusetts, and later Bridgeport, Connecticut, closely associated with Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva. Arrested May 30, 1914 in El Paso for a radical speech during a lecture tour, he was held for deportation but released. Between about 1917 and 1919 he moved to New York and became editor of Il Refrattario and coeditor of Il Diritto with Raffaele Schiavina. Arrested February 1920 under New York’s criminal anarchy law, he was deported June 29, 1920.

In Italy in 1921 he was sentenced to two years for avoiding the draft. In 1924 he was a subscriber to Errico Malatesta’s anarchist journal Pensiero e Voluntá, and two years later he married. Italian government reports noted “good conduct” and no political activity on his part, and he was removed from the list of subversives in 1932, but in 1936 authorities preventatively detained him while Mussolini visited Morra De Sanctis. Locally, Mariani was remembered as a militant antifascist who lectured peasants outside church and became “unanimously considered the civil and moral point of reference for an entire generation.” In 1946 he was elected to local government and led the creation of the town’s first middle school. He died in 1964.

Sources: INS file 54861/318; FBI file OG 8000-385978; CPC busta 3061; Un trentennio di attività anarchica (1915-1945); Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University; Francesco de Rogatis et al., eds., Morra de Sanctis: Tra cronaca e storia ad un anno del terremoto.

Vakula Markovets

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported (“voluntarily departed”) to Russia as a radical in September 26, 1920. No further information has been located.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Sam Markowich

Born: 1899, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: wire puncher
Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

An employee of the Spring Wire Company in Albion, Michigan, and member of the local branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested November 7, 1919, in a local raid on the URW. Deported to Russia January 22, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54663/276; Jackson Evening News (Jackson MI), November 10, 1919; Detroit Free Press, January 11, 1920.

Ludwig Martens (born Ludwig Christian Alexander Karl Martens; a.k.a. Ludwig Karlovich Martens)

Ludwig Martens, 1920. Wikimedia Commons.

Born: 1874, Bachmut, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: German
Occupation: Engineer; diplomat
Migration: Immigrated to US 1916
Affiliation: Russian Soviet Government Bureau

The son of a German factory owner, he joined the League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class while a university student in Saint Petersburg. Arrested in 1896 and deported to Germany in 1899, he joined the German Social Democratic Party, the emigrated to England.

In the United States he became vice president of a New York engineering firm and joined the editorial board of the Socialist Party’s Russian-language newspaper Novy Mir. 1919 transferred into the Communist Party of America. Returned to Russia in 1917. In January 1919 he was appointed the official representative of the Soviet government in the US and returned to New York, though the United States refused him recognition. That March he established the Russian Soviet Government Bureau to negotiate contracts with American firms. Ordered deported in 1920, he left by “voluntary departure” January 22, 1921.

In the Soviet Union he served in the Supreme Soviet of the National Economy and later headed diesel-engine research and development. He retired with honors in 1941 and died in 1948.

Sources: FBI file OG 8000-377098; Frederick C. Giffin, “The Martens Mission,” International Social Science Review 73, no. 3/4 (1998); Todd J. Pfannestiel, Rethinking the Red Scare: The Lusk Committee and New York’s Crusade Against Radicalism, 1919-1923; G. Evgenev and B. Shapik, Revoliutsioner, diplomat, uchenyi (o L.K. Martens); https://web.archive.org/web/20220808190823/http:/deadlypass.com/wp/martens-ludwig-karlovich/; New York Times, October 22, 1948.

John Martin

John Martin, 1918. National Archives.

Born: 1885, Hørsholm, Denmark
Nationality: Danish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer; lumber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1910
Affiliation: Industrial Workers of the World

Joined the IWW in Seattle in 1916, later becoming branch secretary in Raymond, Washington and district secretary for the Lumber Workers’ Industrial Union No. 500. He helped lead the major 1917 lumber strike in the Northwest. A defendant in the federal IWW trial of 1917–1918, he was sentenced to ten years and a $30,000 fine. His sentence was later commuted on condition of deportation, and he was deported December 7, 1922.

Sources: INS file 54616/57; Industrial Workers of the World Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library, Wayne State University; Stephen M. Kohn, American Political Prisoners: Prosecutions under the Espionage and Sedition Acts.

Tomás Martínez (a.k.a. Thomas Martinez)

Tomás Martínez, 1918. National Archives.
Martínez shortly before his death in Mexico, 1921. America: Numero Unico, January 1922.

Born: 1893, Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Migrated to US c. 1915
Affiliation: IWW

Martínez participated in the Mexican Revolution beginning in 1910, then joined the IWW in Sonora and organized miners in Cananea. In 1914 he was expelled from Sonora as a supposed Huerta supporter, prompting a strike of 2,500–3,000 miners until he was allowed to return.

From 1915 to 1918 he was active in IWW and Partido Liberal Mexicano circles in Arizona and Los Angeles and wrote extensively for the IWW paper El Rebelde. Arrested in Miami, Arizona, in March 1918, he was sentenced under the Espionage Act to two years in Leavenworth and a $500 fine. He contracted tuberculosis in prison, and a botched appendicitis operation caused septicemia. After release he requested permission to depart for a country other than Mexico, fearing execution for his revolutionary past, but the request was denied. Deported in 1921, he was reportedly near death when sent across the border.

He never recovered and died in Guadalajara October 23, 1921. Fellow activists buried him beneath a headstone reading: ¡Nunca olvidamos! (“We never forget!”)

Sources: INS file 54412/47 (missing); FBI file OG 240868; Tucson Citizen, April 15, 1914; Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Papers, Wisconsin Historical Society; Erie Labor Press, December 3, 1921; America: Numero Unico (Boston), January 1922.

Ivan Martinovsky (a.k.a. John Martinowski)

Born: 1887, Cherga, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1909
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW branch in Rockville, Connecticut, September 1919 and became its secretary. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/260; FBI file OG 253632.

Martzin to McPherson

Red Scare Deportees, , , , ,

Mary Martzin

Born: c. 1898, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Housewife
Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

An anarchist and URW member since 1918, Martzin was the wife of fellow deportee Vincent Martzin. She had two children—one aged two years and one six months old—when detained. She was deported to Russia February 26, 1921, taking the children with her.

Sources: INS file 55009/16.

Vincent Martzin

Born: 1893, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Martzin joined the URW in New York in 1916. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919. His pregnant common-law wife Mary and their infant child remained in the United States until Mary’s deportation in 1921.

Sources: INS file 54709/276; FBI file OG 378318.

Pietro Marucco

Pietro Marucco, c. 1918. Il Domani, April 1919.

Born: c. 1885, Maggiora, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1905
Affiliation: Anarchist

Joined a brother in Pennsylvania’s coal mines. Both brothers joined the anarchist Demolizione Group in Latrobe, Pennsylvania and supported Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva. Pietro was arrested May 20, 1918, and deported February 22, 1919.

Though reportedly in perfect health at departure, he died at sea March 8, 1919. The official cause was “pneumonia following influenza,” and he was buried at sea, though comrades believed he had been killed and vowed revenge.

Sources: INS file 54379/378; Elizabeth Gurley Flynn Papers, Tamiment Library and Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives; Il Diritto, April 1919; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background; Antonio Senta, Luigi Galleani: The Most Dangerous Anarchist in America.

Kazis Maskalunas (a.k.a. Kasimir Maskaljunas; Kaziz Maskilunas)

Born: 1894, Kovno, Russia (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Lithuanian
Occupation: Lumber worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

Maskalunas joined the URW in 1916 and the IWW in 1917. Arrested January 1918 in Seattle while inquiring at a US immigration office about a detained friend, he was held without hearing for three months and then transferred to jail in Ellensburg, Washington, where he was finally examined. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54379/101.

Bartolomeo Massullo

Bartolomeo Massullo, 1917. Knoxville Sentinel, December 12, 1917.

Born: 1881, Bagnoli, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Anarchist

Already an anarchist before emigrating, Massullo had a wife and three children in Italy. In Seattle he joined the Circolo di Studi Sociali, distributed Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva, and corresponded with the movement’s leading figures. Arrested November 1917, he provided names and addresses of Circolo members under interrogation. Deported July 10, 1919.

Italian authorities later reported no radical activity, though he secretly continued reading and fundraising for anarchist publications. In 1923 he emigrated to Canada, then illegally reentered the United States in 1929 and settled in Hayward, California, where he was no longer politically active.

Sources: INS file 54616/19; CPC busta 3143; Gianfranco Cresciani, “Exploitation, Emigration and Anarchism: the Case of Isidoro Alessandro Bertazzon,” Altreitalie no. 46 (January-June 2013); Giuseppe Galzerano, Andrea Salsedo: vita, galera e morte dell’editore anarchico “suicidato” dalla polizia americana; La Frusta, July 1, 1922; Ancestry.com.

Filimon Matera (a.k.a. William; Molorik)

Born: 1881, Chernihiv Oblast, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

Active in revolutionary movements in Russia since 1905.

In the United States he joined both the URW and IWW in Seattle. His wife and children remained in Russia. Arrested January 1920, he was deported to Russia February 2, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54860/420.

Pavel Matesky (a.k.a. Paul)

Born: c. 1889, Mogiliev, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Weaver
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

Joined the URW in Waterbury, Connecticut in October 1917 and later became secretary of the Montville branch. Also an IWW member. He admitted being an anarchist and advocating the overthrow of governments by force and violence. Arrested January 19, 1920, he was deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54861/11.

Elia Matuska

Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Matuska joined the Socialist Party and later became a charter member of Chicago’s Karl Marx Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party, serving as branch librarian. He was deported March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54859/4.

James Maundeloe

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

Joined the Greensburg, Pennsylvania URW branch in 1919 but claimed he was expelled after briefly becoming a butcher-shop owner. He participated in the 1919 strike at the American Sheet and Tinplate Company. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/431.

Donald McPherson (a.k.a. Edgar Dunn)

Born: 1898, Leeds, England
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Scottish
Occupation: Sailor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: IWW

McPherson joined the IWW around 1915. Arrested September 9, 1918 in Seattle, he stated when asked about the Soviet government: “It is all right.” At a later immigration hearing he refused to answer questions. He was deported July 12, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54517/54.

Mechuk to Meskov

Red Scare Deportees, , , ,

Trofin Mechuk (or Nacsuk)

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
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 and “voluntary departed” to Russia via Canada on October 16, 1920.

Sources: FBI file BS 202600-1378-1.

John Meehan (a.k.a. Jack)

Born: 1878, Ireland
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Irish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1893
Affiliation: IWW

An IWW member arrested in Everett, Washington, and deported December 6, 1918.

Joined the Merseyside branch of the IWW in Liverpool, then in the 1920s became active in Liverpool in the Communist Party of Great Britain, the Seamen’s Vigilance Committee, and the National Unemployed Workers’ Committee Movement.

Sources: Evening Express (Liverpool), September 14, 1921 and October 10, 1923; Liverpool Echo, September 29, 1921.

Peter Melcishik

Born: Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported to Russia as a radical on January 22, 1921. No further information has been found.

Sources: INS file 54325/36G.

Gregory Melnikov (or Melikov; a.k.a. Kushneroff; Oleinik)

Born: 1896, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Janitor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Melnikov was arrested and beaten at the URW’s People’s House in New York City on November 11, 1919. He denied URW membership, but a confidential Department of Justice informant testified that he belonged to the organization. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/522.

Nikolai Melikov (a.k.a. Nick Melikoff; Melincoff; Melnikov)

Born: c. 1886, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Painter
Migration: Migrated to US 1917 (via Canada)
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Belonged to URW branches in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Vancouver, and New York, and had previously been fined and imprisoned in Vancouver for serving as an officer of the organization. His wife Olga lived with him in New York. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he testified that he advocated overthrowing government “by mind, never by force…I am against every kind of government…I am opposed to every Government that is based on exploitation of one man by another.” Deported January 22, 1921 aboard the SS Stockholm.

By 1924 he was, like many Russian anarchists, a political prisoner in the Solovetsky Special Purpose Camp.

Sources: INS file 54861/306; ational Popular Government League, To the American People: Report Upon the Illegal Practices of the United States Department of Justice; Der Syndikalist (Berlin), no. 17 [May] 1924.

Pavel Melnikov (a.k.a. Paul Melnicoff; Pawel Melnik)

Born: 1886, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Slovenian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Attended gymnasium until age eighteen and worked as a clerk before emigrating.

Around 1918 he joined the URW and became a national organizer and lecturer based in Seattle and San Francisco; he also taught English in the URW school in San Francisco. He was accused, without evidence, of involvement in bomb and assassination plots. Arrested April 23, 1917 in Trenton, New Jersey for allegedly making seditious remarks and again in March 1919 in San Francisco for vagrancy, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54616/123; Lazar Lipotkin, The Russian Anarchist Movement in North America.

Peter Williamson Merta (a.k.a. Peter Williamson)

Born: 1885, Finland
Nationality: Finnish
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Lumber worker; newspaper editor
Migration: Immigrated to US 1908 via Canada
Affiliation: IWW

Served as secretary-treasurer of the IWW’s Lumber Workers’ Union No. 500 in Raymond, Washington. His 1916 citizenship application was denied because of his IWW membership. Arrested February 1918 while posting IWW stickers, he served fifteen days and was then detained for deportation but released on bail. After relocating to Duluth he became an editor of the Finnish-language IWW paper Industrialisti. Arrested again in December 1918, his lawyer successfully argued he should be deported to Sweden rather than Finland, where anti-socialist Whites had recently won a civil war. His wife Elsie, also an IWW member, initially requested deportation with him but ultimately remained in the United States.

Sources: INS file 54397/134; FBI file OG 8000-382409; Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, Communist and Anarchist Deportation Cases; Frances H. Early, A World Without War: How U.S. Feminists and Pacifists Resisted World War I.

Sam Meskov (a.k.a. Serpion; Meshkov; Miskoff; Meshoff; Moshoff)

Born: 1889, Saratov, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to US 1912
Affiliation: InWW

Joined the IWW in March 1919 and distributed its literature. Arrested in Van Voorhis, Pennsylvania, he was described by Commissioner-General of Immigration A. Caminetti as “apparently an ignorant harmless fellow, [but] the Bureau [of Immigration] is of the opinion that this type of man is often dangerous because of his ignorance and the fact that he can be easily imposed upon by the shrewder type of radical.” Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Sources: INS file 54709/34; FBI file OG 284810.

Metcalfe to Miller

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

Sidney Metcalfe

Born: 1893, Leeds, England
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Englsih
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1906
Affiliation: IWW

Migrated to U.S. with his family in 1906, at age thirteen. Became a “hobo” laborer, telling authorities, “I had a thousand different jobs” in the US and Canada. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916 in Salina, Kansas. He served a year in Pierce County Jail for refusing draft registration, which he described as “an employers’ edict.” Arrested in Tacoma in February 1919 while posting IWW stickers, he was deported June 21, 1919.

After arrival in England he said he would continue IWW propaganda if conditions were similar to America’s, but later observed there was little outlet for such activity. He became an admirer of George Lansbury and worked as a docker in Liverpool.

Sources: INS file 54517/88; FBI file OG 8000-382412.

Nicholas Michels

Born: Austria-Hungary, year unknown
Nationality: Hungarian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation: Communist Labor Party

A member of the Communist Labor Party deported to Hungary in 1921. No further information has been found.

Sources: FBI file OG 381688.

Feodor Michkov (a.k.a. Fred Mechcoff; Michcov; Mihaitch)

Born: c. 1888, Moscow, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Previously arrested in Russia for a political offense, Michkov joined the Union of Russian Workers in New York. Arrested February 1920, he admitted anarchist beliefs and opposition to organized government. Deported to Russia January 22, 1921.

Source: INS file 54861/131.

Kalenik Migura (a.k.a. Kalymnyk)

Born: 1885, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW branch in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, became its secretary, and was arrested February 1920. Deported January 22, 1921. His wife and child remained in Russia.

Sources: INS file 54861/75; FBI file OG 381865.

Nikolai Mikhaelov (a.k.a. Nicholas Mihaeloff; Mikeloff; Michaelov; Peter Lund; Fritiak)

Born: 1893, Petrograd, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Sailor; machinist
Migration: Immigrated to US 1917
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW

After fighting in France for the British and Russian armies during the First World War, Mikhaelov migrated across several countries before reaching the US in 1917. (According to another source, however, he was leader of an anarchist gang that took part in “expropriations” in Petrograd in 1916 and fled to the U.S. after two members were killed and he was injured in the hand.) He joined the URW in Newark and also the IWW. Arrested March 1919 and released on bail, he was expelled from the URW after his partner allegedly approached police as an informant. He nonetheless declared his desire to return to Russia to overthrow Lenin and establish “pure anarchy.” Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919. His wife and child remained in the US.

Source: INS file 54616/106.

Grigory Mikhalevich (a.k.a. Gregory Michaelevitcz; Michailevich; Nicholavitch)

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

Member of Russian Branch No. 6 of the Communist Party of America in New York. Deported December 23, 1920. No further information has been found.

Source: INS file 54859/199.

Gavril Mikhnevich (a.k.a. Hawril Michnewitz; Michniewich; Harry Grigory)

Mikhnevich’s URW membership card. National Archives.
Gavril Mikhnevich, c. 1920s. B. Ratner, Istoriia Moskovskogo instrumental’nogo zavoda.

Born: 1886, Kremno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Factory worker
Migration: Immigrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. Joined the URW in Hartford in August 1919 and was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

After arrival in Soviet Russia he was one of six deportees who met Lenin seeking financial support. He later worked at the Russian-American Tool Plant and helped form a factory committee there, and appears to have joined the Russian Communist Party.

Source: INS file 54709/421; B. Ratner, Istoriia Moskovskogo instrumental’nogo zavoda.

Julius Miller

Julius Miller, c. 1920. National Archives.

Born: 1894, Dvinsk, Russia (present-day Latvia)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1915
Affiliation: IWW

An IWW member and delegate, Miller was arrested in Detroit in January 1920. After his release on bail he was arrested again in Cleveland for distributing IWW literature and held for over a year in the county jail, where an immigration inspector reported his health was deteriorating badly. Deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Source: INS file 54860/32.

Samuel Miller (a.k.a. Sholem Melamed; Schulim)

Born: 1897, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Jewish
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Immigrated to US 1914
Affiliation: IWW; anarchist

An employee of Sears, Roebuck and Company in Chicago, as well as an IWW member and anarchist, Miller was arrested in July 1917. When asked his nationality, he replied: “I am international.” His attorney, Clarence Darrow, unsuccessfully argued that as a pacifist “philosophical anarchist” Miller should not fall under the anarchist exclusion laws. Deported December 23, 1920.

Source: INS file 54235/36-A.

Milligan to Molochko

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , ,

William Milligan (a.k.a. Wilson)

Born: 1874, Edinburgh, Scotland
Nationality: British
Ethnicity: Scottish
Occupation: Miner
Migration: Immigrated to U.S. c. 1901
Affiliation: IWW; anarchist

Migrated to South Africa c. 1900, then to Australia and Mexico, before arriving in the United States around 1901. Worked in mines and acted as an IWW propagandist on both sides of the U.S.–Mexico border. Although he filed a declaration of intent to naturalize, he never completed his application for citizenship, explaining, “I traveled all over the country and saw too much.” Arrested in Deming, New Mexico, in September 1919, he was deported April 3, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54709/648; The Deming Headlight (Deming, NM), September 26, 1919.

Anton Minarich (a.k.a. Tony)

Born: 1891, near Fiume, Austria-Hungary (present-day Croatia)
Nationality: Yugoslavian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to U.S. 1909
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Worked for the Ford Motor Company Hospital in Detroit and joined South Slavic Branch No. 17 of the Communist Party in 1919. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and held at Fort Wayne, he was deported to Yugoslavia on June 19, 1920.

Sources: INS file 54860/50; FBI file OG 387463.

Yakov Minich (a.k.a. Jacob; Jakow; Minicz; Menich)

Born: c. 1888, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

His wife and three children remained in Russia. He joined Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party of America in Rachine, Wisconsin. Arrested January 2, 1920, and deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Source: INS file 54859-167.

Petr Ivanovich Mironovich

Mironovich’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1900, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1915
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Belonged to the URW in New York and later Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/527.

______ Mirolyubov

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

A member of the Union of Russian Workers in Akron, Ohio, he was deported to Russia. No further information has been found.

Sources: Probuzhdenie, January 1932.

Simeon Misnik (a.k.a. Semeon; Minnik)

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

Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and agreed to “voluntary departure” to Russia October 16, 1920. No further information has been found.

Source: FBI file BS 202600-153-1.

Joseph Miss

Born: Austro-Hungarian
Nationality: Hungarian
Ethnicity:
Occupation:
Migration:
Affiliation:

Deported to Hungary as a radical on March 21, 1920. No additional information has been found.

Source: NS file 54325/36G.

Xavier Mitalski (a.k.a. Prostopluk)

Born: 1885, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Carpenter
Migration: Migrated to US 1909
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Worked in New York, Chicago, and Detroit and belonged to the URW along with his brothers and cousin. Arrested in Chicago November 14, 1919, he claimed his membership lasted only “a month and a half,” though authorities found URW literature in his apartment. Deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54709/434; FBI file OG 8000-385993.

Nicholas Mlaveransky (or Mlaverausky)

Born: 1894, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Machinist
Migration: Migrated to US 1914
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Bridgeport, Connecticut, in 1918. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/376.

Ketia Fedrovich Molkowsky (a.k.a. L.C. Marten; Leo Martin)

Born: 1884, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer; fisherman
Migration:
Affiliation:

Arrested in Seattle in September 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21 as a contract laborer and as “likely to become a public charge,” though officials also suspected radicalism.

Source: Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, House of Representatives, Communist and Anarchist Deportation Cases.

Aggi Molochko (a.k.a. Mike A. Molaka)

Born: 1889, Starobin, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Belarusian
Occupation: Millworker
Migration: Migrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Norwich, Connecticut, in February 1918. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported February 1, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54861/8; FBI file OG 380828.

Peter Moloishik (or Maloishun)

Moloishik’s URW membership card. National Archives.

Born: 1895, Grodna, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Polish
Ethnicity: Russian
Occupation: Laborer; moulder
Migration: Migrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Although he claimed Polish citizenship, authorities listed his “race” as Russian. He joined the URW in May 1919. Arrested in Marshall, Michigan, November 14, 1919, he was deported to Poland January 22, 1921.

Source: INS file 54709/529.

Momotuk to Murza

Red Scare Deportees, , , , , , , , ,

Trofin Momotuk (or Mormochuk; a.k.a. Theodore Maumat)

Born: 1886, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Steelworker
Migration: Migrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Had a wife living in Russia. He joined the URW in Youngstown, Ohio. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/187.

Giuseppe Montagni

Giuseppe Montagni, c. 1920. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.

Born: 1890, Riva di Trento, Austria-Hungary (present-day Italy)
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity: Italian
Occupation: Electrician
Migration: Migrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Lived in Buffalo, Philadelphia, and Pittsburgh and joined the Communist Party of America. Deported June 19, 1920.

He apparently did not join the Italian Communist Party, but in late 1922 he illegally emigrated to Hungary hoping to reach Russia. Arrested in Budapest en route, he was interned for ten months at Zalaegerszeg before being expelled back to Italy in June 1924. After several years of itinerant work, he settled in his hometown as a farmer. Italian authorities continued surveillance of him as a radical until 1941.

Sources: FBI file OG 204622; CPC busta 3359.

Tugardo Montanari

Born: 1886, Orciano di Pesaro, Italy
Nationality: Italian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Metalworker; iron molder
Migration: Migrated to US 1903
Affiliation: Anarchist

Not politically radical before immigrating, he became an anarchist and distributed Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva throughout New England by motorcycle. In 1913 he was arrested in Worcester, Massachusetts, for “lewd and lascivious cohabitation” with his companion Lucia Mancini and served six months. Arrested again May 17, 1918, in Mansfield, Massachusetts, he was deported June 24, 1919, while Mancini and their daughter remained in the US.

In 1923 he emigrated to France, where he continued anarchist and antifascist activity. He was still living there in 1977 and contributing funds to the Italian anarchist magazine Volontà.

Sources: INS file 54379/374; CPC busta 3366; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Volontà, January–February 1977.

Ivan Morgolenkow (a.k.a. John Novak)

Born: 1891, Russia
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Longshoreman
Migration: Migrated to US 1911
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Belonged to the URW in Baltimore. Arrested December 3, 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/622.

Harry Morozoff (a.k.a. Morogoff)

Born: c. 1894, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Socialist Party in 1917 and attended meetings of Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party in Detroit in 1919, though he denied formal membership. Arrested January 1920 and held at Fort Wayne, he was deported to Russia March 18, 1921.

Source: INS file 54860/54.

Grigori Moroz (a.k.a. Gregory; Mike Moroz)

Born: 1893, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1916
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined URW Branch No. 1 in Baltimore in April 1919. He worked at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Plant, where in October 1919 a company officer reported him for wearing a black button bearing the name of the URW newspaper Khleb i Volia. Arrested November 1919, he was deported to Russia February 1, 1921.

Source: INS file 54709/108.

Roman Mosichuk (or Mosichok; Mosicshok; Mosithuk)

Born: 1890, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Ukrainian
Occupation: Blacksmith’s helper
Migration: Migrated to US 1913
Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers

Joined the URW in Newark in 1915 and became secretary of its school in Trenton, New Jersey, where he distributed URW literature. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/220.

Pavel Mozuris (a.k.a. Paul; Mozures)

Born: 1885, Suwałki, Russia (present-day Poland)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity: Lithuanian
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1907
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Communist Party in New York in 1919. On January 20, 1920, he voluntarily reported himself to the Department of Justice as a party member because he had been blacklisted and wanted to return to Russia. After more than six months’ detention on Ellis Island, he escaped July 12, 1920, by leaping from a third-floor window into the water below. Later located in Kalamazoo, Michigan, he was arrested and deported February 26, 1921.

Sources: INS file 54861/22; FBI file OG 381458.

Joseph Mule

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

Deported to Yugoslavia as a radical June 19, 1920. No additional information has been located.

Source: INS file 54325/36G.

Camillo Muñoz

Born: 1880, Nochistlán, Mexico
Nationality: Mexican
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Laborer
Migration: Migrated to US 1915
Affiliation: Anarchist

Muñoz belonged to the anarchist group Los Errantes in Morenci, Arizona, affiliated with the Partido Liberal Mexicano. Arrested September 19, 1919, in Tucson, his wife and three Mexican-born children traveled there intending to accompany him if deported. He was deported December 3, 1919.

Source: INS file 54709/70.

José Maria Murias

Born: 1889, Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina
Nationality: Disputed
Ethnicity: Spanish (father); Italian (mother)
Occupation: Sailor; miner
Migration: Migrated to US 1914
Affiliation: IWW

Joined the IWW in San Francisco in 1914 and became a delegate and organizer in Arizona. Arrested in Globe, Arizona, in September 1918, immigration officials faced a diplomatic impasse when Argentina claimed he was a Spanish citizen and Spain claimed he was an Argentine citizen. He was ultimately allowed to “reship as a foreign seaman” to Costa Rica July 11, 1919.

A 1920 report stated he later made several voyages to New York as a seaman and expected to return again.

Source: INS file 54648/32.

Vasily Murza (a.k.a. Sam Drozda; Sam Murza; Sam Murgu)

Born: c. 1897, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus)
Nationality: Russian
Ethnicity:
Occupation: Steelworker
Migration: Migrated to US 1912
Affiliation: Communist Party of America

Joined the Communist Party of America in Buffalo in November 1919. According to immigration authorities, “He appears to be a dangerous radical and, in addition, he is immoral, as will be seen from the testimony he is living with a woman without being married to her.” (In fact, he and his wife Pauline Brya had been legally married in a civil ceremony.) Arrested January 1920, he was deported to Russia February 26, 1921.

Source: INS file 54809/516.