As part of the ongoing research for my book on the global history of immigrant radicals who were deported during America’s First Red Scare, I have posted brief profiles of 835 (and counting) individual deportees I have identified. This list is a work in progress, and entries are being added and updated as I obtain additional information.
Who is included:
This list includes radicals and suspected radicals who were deported between 1917 (following America’s entrance into the First World War) and 1925, when the last of the foreign-born radicals arrested between 1917 and 1920 were expelled, some after serving prison sentences or being interned as “enemy aliens.” It includes both those who were deported by government order and those who were ordered deported but “voluntarily departed” at their own expense with the government’s consent (both categories were included in US government deportation statistics). It does not include those who fled the country to avoid arrest or deportation. It includes both individuals deported for belonging to legally-defined “anarchistic classes,” and others who were suspected of radicalism but deported on other grounds (most commonly for entering the country without inspection or being retroactively deemed “likely to become a public charge” at the time of their entry).
This is not a complete list. In the fiscal years (June-July) 1918-1926, the United States deported 979 aliens as “anarchists,” and an unknown number of additional radical immigrants under other statutes. The largest single group of deportees, composed of 242 alleged radicals (as well as seven unrelated deportees) departed on the USAT Buford on December 21, 1919. However, it appears that no complete list of Red Scare deportees was produced by either the Bureau of Immigration or the Bureau of Investigation. I have instead had to rely on partial lists and mentions of individual cases included in these organizations’ files, congressional testimony, radical publications, newspaper reports, and other sources.
How to use this site:
Profiles have been posted in small batches. They are organized in alphabetical order by last name, followed by alternate spellings and pseudonyms in parentheses. (The Cyrillic spellings of Russian names are generally my best guess; American sources from the era were wildly inconsistent in their spellings of such names. The same is true of the transliteration of Chinese names in the Roman alphabet.) You can also browse the Index of Names.
Birth years are often approximate, usually having been calculated from an individual’s age at the time of their examination by immigration authorities, and some may therefore be off by a year.
You can search by individuals’ nationalities (country of birth and, in some cases, ethnicity [i.e. Jewish, Lithuanian, etc.]) by using the tags above.
Occupations describe the individuals’ employment in the US, not necessarily the work they engaged in before arrival or after their deportation.
Political affiliations represented include the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), the anarcho-syndicalist Union of Russian Workers of the United States and Canada (URW); the anarchist Partido Liberal Mexicano (PLM); anarchists unaffiliated with larger organizations; the Communist Party of America (CP); the Communist Labor Party (CLP); the Socialist Party of America (SP); the Socialist Labor Party (SLP); and unaffiliated socialists. You can search by political affiliation by using the tags above.
You may also use the “Search” box at the top of the page to look for individual names, locations, etc.
The main sources used for compiling these profiles are case files from the Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), Record Group 85, National Archives and Records Administration, Washington DC; the Old German Files (OG) and Bureau Section Files (BS) of the Records of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Record Group 65, National Archives and Records Administration, College Park, MD (as digitized at fold3.com); and (for Italians) the Casellario Politico Centrale (CPC), Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Rome, Italy.
A special thanks to Molly Thacker, Brooke Thompson, and Nargis Azaryun, who photographed hundreds of INS files for me; Malcolm Archibald, who has translated a number of Russian-language sources; D.J. Alperovitz, who has provided sources on IWW members; and the dozens of other archivists, translators, activists, and colleagues who have helped me locate, acquire, and read material from across the globe while undertaking this research.
Finally, if you have additional information about any of the deportees, or spot an error, please contact me!
Born: 1896, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Employee of Remington Arms Union Metallic Cartridge Company, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. In August 1919 he joined the Union of Russian Workers and was arrested the following month in Hartford. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/389.
Ugo Balzano
Born: 1882, Castel di Sangro, Aquila, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Typographer Migration: Immigrated to US 1903 Affiliation: Anarchist
Employed by Cleveland’s mainstream Italian-language newspaper La Voce del Popolo Italiano. Active in anarchist circles, he belonged to the Circolo Studi Sociali di Cleveland, distributed Cronaca Sovversiva, and published the anarchist paper L’Appello (1916–17). deported on July 28, 1919.
Upon his return to Italy he was immediately arrested for draft evasion during the war. Later subscribed to the paper La Frustra, published by fellow deportee Giobbe Sanchini. Balzano died in his hometown in 1926.
Walter Banaczyk’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1901, Słupia, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Automobile worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Migrated to the United States with his mother to rejoin his father. Employed at the Fisher Body plant in Detroit, he joined Branch 37 of the Polish Section of the Communist Party of America in December 1919. Arrested in January 1920 at the age of eighteen, he “voluntary departed” to Poland on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54859/569; FBI files OG 382042 and BS 202600-768-1.
Peter P. Banaitis
Born: 1899, Lithuania Nationality: Lithuanian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Miner; laborer; toolmaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined Branch 37 of the Lithuanian Section of the Communist Party of America. Arrested in Chicago in January 1920, he remarked that “as people are thrown in jail here for their beliefs he thinks he will enjoy just as much liberty in his native country.” An immigration inspector described him as “a typical Bolshevik and…more or less intelligent…This individual should be deported by all means as he is manifestly and potentially a bad influence.” He was deported to Lithuania on December 9, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54811/563; FBI file OG 382041.
Daniel Bardaio (or Bardal)
Born: c. 1882, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1906 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
First migrated to the United States in 1906, then moved to Canada in 1908, and returned to the U.S. in 1915. Initially a member of the Socialist Party of America, he later joined the First Russian Branch of the Communist Party of America in Philadelphia. Bardaio was deported on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/124.
Moses Baritz
Moses Baritz, c. 1912. Wikimedia Commons.
Born: 1883, Manchester, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: Russian; Jewish Occupation: Musician; journalist Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Socialist Party of Great Britain; Socialist Party of the United States
Born in England to Russian Jewish immigrant parents. A musician and journalist, Baritz became a prominent member of the small and sectarian Socialist Party of Great Britain and gained notoriety as a skilled Marxist debater. He migrated to Canada in 1910, helping found the “impossibilist” Socialist Party of North America in 1911, before returning to Britain in 1914 and then moving to the United States in 1915 to avoid conscription. In Detroit he cofounded the small “impossibilist” Socialist Party of the United States (which eventually became the World Socialist Party of the United States). Arrested in Seattle in 1918 due to mistaken identity—he was erroneously alleged to be a Russian anarchist and IWW member—he was permitted to “reship foreign” as a sailor to Australia on September 10, 1918.
Baritz subsequently debated rival radicals in Australia, was the first person expelled from New Zealand in January 1920 under that country’s Undesirable Immigrants Exclusion Act, was barred from entry to Canada, returned to Australia, and was deported again in 1920. On the voyage to England he was barred from disembarking in Cape Town to deliver a speech, but was allowed to briefly go ashore in Durban. In England he resumed SPGB activities and became a noted music critic, and in 1924 he became Britain’s first radio disc jockey. He died in 1938.
Ferruccio Coacci, 1930. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1892, Ancona, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Shoemaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Anarchist
An anarchist militant associated with Luigi Galleani and the newspaper Cronaca Sovversiva. He lived in Bridgewater, Massachusetts, with his wife and two children. Arrested in 1918 and subsequently became a suspect—though not regarded as such by most historians—in the robberies and murder for which Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were later arrested. Deported on April 18, 1920, and was joined by his family in Italy.
According to journalist Eugene Lyons, at his home in Italy Coacci possessed anarchist literature on bomb-making and described himself as “a terrorist of the Galleani school.” In October 1921, he migrated to Argentina, where he became involved in anarchist “expropriations” and bombings and was associated with Severino Di Giovanni. In 1930, he was arrested in Buenos Aires with two other Italian anarchists in connection with the robbery of a bus company, but released for lack of evidence.
Sources: INS file 54379/396; FBI file OG 387205; CPC busta 1382; Eugene Lyons, Assignment in Utopia; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background.
Umberto Colarossi
Born: 1894, Carpineto, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Bookkeeper Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist shortly after arriving in the United States; associated with Luigi Galleani and Cronaca Sovversiva. From 1917 to 1919, he resided in Mexico in order to avoid the U.S. military draft. He was arrested in Chicago in May 1919 and deported on July 15, 1920.
In September 1921, he wrote a letter to an Italian government representative renouncing his previous radicalism. He was inducted into the Italian military in 1922 and later became a manager for the Singer Corporation in Italy. In 1929, the Fascist government reported that he demonstrated loyalty to the regime.
Sources: INS file 54616/214; CPC busta 1400; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background.
Sam Colbus
Born: 1879, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two children remained in Russia when he emigrated to the US. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919 and was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 in Fairmont, West Virginia. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/592.
Amy Colyer (née Withall)
Source: Richmond Palladium (IN), January 8, 1920.
Born: 1881, London, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A university-educated daughter of a dress manufacturer, she was active in the Independent Labour Party and married fellow ILP member William Thomas Colyer before the couple emigrated to the U.S. to escape the wartime British political atmosphere. Joined the Socialist Party of America in Boston in 1916 and became branch secretary in 1917. In 1919, she joined the Communist Party of America and served as secretary of its Boston branch. Arrested with her husband during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and detained at Deer Island Prison. During interrogation, she stated, “As a communist I am opposed to all capitalist governments,” and when asked “Do you understand the form of government that you are enjoying in the United States?” she replied “I am not enjoying it, but I think I understand it.” After losing an appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit, she and her husband were deported on April 11, 1922.
After returning to England, she joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Labour Party, left for the CPGB in 1926, and later resumed activity in the Independent Labour Party. She anonymously collaborated on many of her husband’s writings.
Sources: INS file 54810/162; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Deportation Cases of William T. and Amy Colyer (Government Printing Office, 1920).
William Thomas Colyer (a.k.a. Tom Colyer)
Born: 1883, London, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Writer Migration: Immigrated to US 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Opposed the First World War as a member of the Independent Labour Party. Immigrated to the United States in 1915 with his wife and fellow ILP member, Amy Colyer. Joined the Socialist Party of America in Boston in 1916 and became a leading figure in the Massachusetts organization, which he helped transfer into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Wrote for several radical publications and served on the editorial staff of The Communist. Although he declared his intention to naturalize in 1916, he later abandoned the effort, citing disillusionment with U.S. political institutions. Arrested with his wife during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 an detained at Deer Island Prison, where he helped organize a prisoners’ “soviet.” After losing their appeal, he and his wife were deported on April 11, 1922.
After returning to Britain, he joined the Communist Party of Great Britain and the Labour Party. Served as secretary of the Communist-affiliated Greater London Left-Wing Movement and the National Left-Wing Movement, but resigned amid conflicts with the CPGB in 1926. Published Americanism: A World Menace (1922) and The Worker’s Passport: A Study of the Legal Restrictions on Migrant Workers (1928). Ran unsuccessfully for Parliament in 1931 and 1935 as a Labour Party candidate. In 1942, he rejoined the Independent Labour Party and later served on its National Administrative Council. Died in 1956.
Sources: INS file 54810/209; U.S. Congress, House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, Deportation Cases of William T. and Amy Colyer (Government Printing Office, 1920); Lawrence Parker, Communists and Labour: The National Left-Wing Movement, 1925–1929.
James Cully (a.k.a. Jimmy Cully)
Born: c. 1870, Ireland Nationality: British Ethnicity: Irish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: IWW
As a member of the Industrial Workers of the World during the First World War, led a group of approximately 200 draft resisters in Rockford, Illinois. All were arrested, and 112 were convicted. Sentenced to two years in prison for conspiracy to interfere with military conscription and deported to England on June 21, 1919.
After deportation, he continued to be active as a street speaker for the Merseyside branch of the IWW in Liverpool. Also implicated in illegal activities on behalf of the Irish Republican Army.
Sources: Gerald E. Shenk, “Work or Fight!”: Race, Gender, and the Draft in World War One; Socialist Review (London), February 1, 1959; Liverpool Echo, June 28, 1923.
George Cyzyk (a.k.a. Paul Gigalko; Paul Zygaloff)
Born: 1896, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A member and lecturer for the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Cleveland in February 1918 and again in New York during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Anarchist literature, including copies of The Anarchist Soviet Bulletin, was found in his home. Also suspected of involvement in a counterfeiting scheme. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54379/125; FBI file OG 375385.
Jan Dalkovksy (or Dalkowsky)
Born: 1896, Płock Governorate, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America; IWW
Joined Polish Local No. 28 of the Socialist Party of America in Erie, Pennsylvania, in January 1918, and transferred into the Communist Party in 1919. He was also a member of the IWW. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Poland on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54809/280.
Ivan Danilovich (a.k.a. John Danilovich)
Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. Became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/390; FBI file OG 388677.
John Dardzinski
Born: c. 1905, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Shade maker Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party, he was arrested in Hamtramck, Michigan, in January 1920 and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Born: 1877, Sunderland, England Nationality: British Ethnicity: English Occupation: Sailor; baker Migration: Immigrated to US 1897 Affiliation: IWW
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World circa 1909 and became an IWW delegate, organizer, and secretary of its Seattle branch. Arrested “at least five or six times” in connection with IWW activities. As a sailor, traveled to India, China, Japan, Singapore, Samoa, and the Philippines. Arrested in Seattle in July 1918 and deported on June 21, 1919.
Emigrated to Canada, arriving in Quebec on July 5, 1920. Organized on behalf of the IWW’s Martine Transport Workers Industrial Union in Vancouver.
Sources: INS file 54379/503; Ancestry.com; Industrial Worker, November 28, 1923.
Wincenty Dmowski (a.k.a. Vincenty Druowski)
Born: 1885, Russian Poland Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1924 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Arrested in Detroit during the January 1920 Palmer raids as a member of the Communist Party of America. Initially ordered deported to Poland, but later permitted “voluntary departure” to Soviet Russia. Departed October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54709/836.
John W. Dobrinich
Born: 1889, Austria-Hungary (in present-day Croatia) Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Croatian Occupation: Coal miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Married with four children remaining in Croatia. Joined the South Slavic Branch of the Socialist Party in Staunton, Illinois in 1916, later becoming secretary of the Benld, Illinois branch. Transferred into the Communist Party. Arrested in Missouri on April 1, 1920. Appealed his case multiple times before being deported to Croatia on April 4, 1925.
Sources: INS file 54861/376; American Labor Year Book, 1926.
Peter Dolgay (or Dolgag; Dowhay)
Born: 1880, Vilnius, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russia Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Metal worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Wife and three children remained in Russia. Member of the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio. Arrested in August 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/543.
Victor Dombrowski (a.k.a. Douglas Dombrowski; Dombrivski)
Victor Dombrowski’s Socialist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1871, Telsha, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality/Ethnicity: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1900 Affiliation: IWW; Communist Party of America
Not politically active in Russia. Arrested in Chicago around 1914 and imprisoned for three years for assault with intent to kill. After his release, joined the Socialist Party of America and the IWW (leaving the latter in 1918), then the Communist Party in 1919. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Lithuania on May 14, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54809/19; FBI files OG 385518 and OG 388575.
Gerasim Dorosh (a.k.a. Harry Dorosh; Mike Dorash; Mike Smith)
Born: 1893, near Brest-Litovsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Wife and child remained in Russia. Joined the URW branch in Ansonia, Connecticut in March 1919 and became branch secretary. Arrested June 1919 and deported to Russia on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS folder 54616/252.
Konstantin Demyanovich Draco
Born: 1888, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Wife and son remained in Russia. Joined the New London, Connecticut URW branch in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/373; FBI file OG 388601.
Sidor Drankovich (a.k.a. Cedar Drankovich)
Born: 1880, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Autoworker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party
Resided in Hamtramck, Michigan. Joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party in 1919, which later became a Communist Party branch. Arrested in January 1920 and detained at Fort Wayne. Deported March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54589/983.
Dionisy Drichetz (a.k.a. Dennis Drichitz)
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Unknown Migration: Immigration to US year unknown Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Member of the Communist Party of America in Bayonne, New Jersey. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Russia on December 23, 1920.
Sources: INS folder 54325/36G; The Morning Post (Camden, NJ), December 23, 1920.
Sergey Drigov (or Drigoff)
Born: 1883, Mogilev, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
Wife and children remained in Russia. Joined the Seattle URW in April 1919, becoming financial secretary, and joined the IWW in December 1919. Arrested in Seattle in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 1, 1921 aboard the SS Estonia.
Sources: INS file 54860/473; FBI file OG 388594.
Alexandr Dubarev (or Dubareff)
Born: Year unknown, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigration to US year unknown Affiliation: Unknown
Name included on a government list of deported radicals; deported to Russia on January 27, 1921.
Sources: INS folder 54325/36G.
Ivan Dubov (a.k.a. John Duboff)
Ivan Dubov, 1919. The Globe (Worthington, MN), March 4, 1920.
Born: 1885, Fyodorovka, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Active in Union of Russian Worker branches in McKees Rocks (Pennsylvania), New York, and Detroit. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Declared to authorities: “Of course, I am an anarchist… I do not acknowledge any government.” Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/97; FBI file OG 381656.
Peter Dubovik
Born: c. 1880, Zadworna, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Member of the Union of Russian Workers in Seattle. Deported to Russia on January 22, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/462.
Ivan Dudinsky (a.k.a. John Dudinsky)
Dudinsky’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1889, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A former member of the Russian branch of the Socialist Party of America who then joined the Communist Party of America. Arrested in Newark, New Jersey and detained for 101 days while suffering from tuberculosis. Refused to answer questions without legal counsel, which was not provided. Deported December 23, 1920.
Emigrated to from Russia to Canada in 1923 and settled in Quebec. In 1935 sought permission to reenter the US temporarily, which was denied.
Sources: INS file 54810/346; Investigation of Administration of Louis F. Post, Assistant Secretary of Labor: In the Matter of Deportation of Aliens, Hearings, Sixty-sixth Congress, Second Session; Constantine Maria Panunzio, The Deportation Cases of 1919-1920; Beverly Gage, The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror.
Anton Dudka (a.k.a. Antonio or Tony Dudka)
Born: 1894, Podolsk, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Blacksmith; handyman Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1918 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Chairman of Buffalo’s East Side Russian Branch of the Communist Party. Arrested January 7, 1920. Denied all allegations. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54809/443.
Serge Dukhane
Born: c. 1892, Chernigov, Russia (present-day Chernihiv, Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Tailor Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Socialist Labor Party
Wife and child remained in Russia. Member of the Socialist Labor Party. Arrested in Pittsburgh in January 1920. Affirmed his belief in Communism and Bolshevism but denied membership in the Communist Party. Deported to Russia in February 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/646.
Alex Dulchewski (or Dulchewsky; Dulchavsky)
Born: 1891, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1909 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Member of the Communist Party in Detroit. Arrested January 1920 and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/808.
Michael Dunetz
Born: 1885, Vilensky, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Carpenter for the Ford Motor Company in Detroit, where he also belonged to Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920, detained at Fort Wayne, and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/988.
Wladyslaw Dwanowsky (a.k.a. Walter Jazonski)
Born: c. 1884, Lublin, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Bricklayer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Previously arrested in Russia for taking an unauthorized furlough (presumably from the Russian army). Arrested in Hamtramck, Michigan in January 1920 due to his Communist Party membership; previously detained for distributing radical May Day flyers. Deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/610.
Paul Dyachuk (a.k.a. Pavel Deonesieff)
Born: c. 1882, Kiev, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Boilermaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1903 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the URW in Seattle in 1919. Also a member of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders and Helpers of America. Arrested January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.
Born: 1891, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian; Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1908 or 1909 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers branch in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania, where he served as branch treasurer. Arrested during the Palmer Raids and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After deportation, settled briefly in Petrograd but soon fled to Poland. In 1923, with aid from comrades in North America, migrated to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he joined the anarchist Delo Truda Group and remained an active anarchist until his death in 1941.
Born: 1871, Catanzaro, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer; printer; journalist Migration: Immigrated to US 1906 Affiliation: Anarchist
Active as a socialist in Italy from 1898, repeatedly arrested for political activity. After migrating to the United States, became a committed anarchist and propagandist. Worked as a typesetter for Carlo Tresca’s La Plebe in Pittsburgh, then for Luigi Galleani’s Cronaca Sovversiva in Barre, Vermont, before relocating to Boston and later New York. Member of the anarchist Gruppo Gaetano Bresci in East Harlem. Published the anarchist journals Domani (1919) and L’Ordine (1919–1920). Arrested in February 1920 on suspicion of printing the anarchist leaflets left at the sites of 1919 radical bombings. Held incommunicado with Andrea Salsedo in the Bureau of Investigation’s Manhattan offices. According to Elia, Salsedo was beaten during interrogation and, on May 1, 1920, jumped—or was thrown—to his death from a twelfth-floor window. Elia was deported on August 7, 1920.
After deportation, remained active in the Italian anarchist movement, largely escaping police surveillance. Selected at a January 1921 conference to co-edit a new anarchist newspaper, but the project was delayed and Elia died of tuberculosis in 1924 before its publication.
Sources: INS file 54861/280 (missing); CPC busta 1879; aul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background; Charles Howard McCormick, Hopeless Cases: The Hunt for the Red Scare Terrorist Bombers; Beverly Gage, The Day Wall Street Exploded: A Story of America in Its First Age of Terror; Maurizio Antonioli et al., Dizionario biografico degli anarchici italiani; Aldo G. Ventrici, Roberto Elia. L’anarchismo antiorganizzatore negli Stati Uniti di primo ‘900.
Nikolai Elkevich (a.k.a. Mike Elkevich)
Elkevich’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: c. 1891, Vilna, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Former member of the Socialist Party, later joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party. Arrested during the January 1920 raids and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/710.
Ivan Elko
Born: 1895, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Employed at the Dakota Mines in Fairmont, West Virginia. Member of both the Union of Russian Workers and the United Mine Workers; elected secretary of the Farmington, West Virginia URW branch. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. Stated to authorities: “I don’t want to be deported. I want to remain here. I want to work here and I might stay here throughout my life.” Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/602.
Robert Elstin (a.k.a. Robert Kisten)
Elstin’s application and membership card for the Communist Party. National Archives.
Born: 1884, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Latvian Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Entered Canada in 1913 as the “man servant” of Russian Consul General Basek, then migrated to the United States. Former member of the Russian branch of the Socialist Party; transferred in 1919 to Baltimore’s Lettish Branch of the Communist Party. Married, with wife Evelyn residing in the US. Arrested in Baltimore during the second Palmer Raids on January 2, 1920. Deported on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/535; FBI file OG 388790.
Ivan Ermola (or Yarmola; Yermola)
Born: 1895, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1918. Arrested during the Palmer Raids and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/350.
Adolph Ersson
Adolph Ersson, 1916. Everett Pubic Library.
Born: 1890, Karlskrona, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Sailor; laborer Migration: Immigrated to Australia 1905; then immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: IWW
Active in union and strike activity in Australia after emigrating there. Then migrated to the U, where he joined the IWW in Denver in 1914. Survivor of the 1916 Everett Massacre; arrested in its aftermath and held until charges were dropped in 1917. Arrested again in Seattle in October 1918 and in Los Angeles in May 1919. Deported on June 26, 1919.
After deportation made his way to Norway, where gave speeches about the repression of the IWW in the US. Found work on a ship sailing from Kristiana to New York, where he jumped ship in December 1919. 1924 working as a laborer in Buffalo. At some point he returned to Sweden, where he died in 1967.
Born: c. 1891, Volhynia, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Member of Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920, detained at Fort Wayne, and deported to Russia on March 3, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/362.
Nikita Eskimashko (a.k.a. Nikita Ikmasko)
Born: 1894, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Member of Philadelphia URW Branch No. 1. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/331.
Fred Evanov (or Evanow; Evanoff)
Born: 1896, Russia Nationality/Ethnicity: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Plumber Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Illiterate. Member of the Communist Party in Detroit. Arrested January 2, 1920 and deported on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/5.
Angelo Faggi
Angelo Faggi, c. 1919. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1885, Brozzi, Italy Nationality/Ethnicity: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer; journalist Migration: Migrated to Switzerland 1912; then to US 1915 Affiliation: IWW
Raised in a socialist family, joined the Italian Socialist Party at age 15. Active in Genoa’s Chamber of Labor and later a journalist for socialist and syndicalist newspapers. Became a revolutionary syndicalist by 1907 and left the PSI. Served as secretary of the Piacenza Chamber of Labor before fleeing to Switzerland to avoid imprisonment; expelled in 1914, moved to Paris, then immigrated to the US in 1915.
In Barre, Vermont, published Lo Scalpellino and joined the IWW, becoming a lecturer and later editor of the IWW newspaper Il Proletario. Arrested repeatedly for labor agitation; arrested in Chicago in May 1919 and “voluntarily departed” with his wife and two children to Italy on August 30, 1919.
After returning to Italy, again elected secretary of the Piacenza Chamber of Labor and helped found the local paramilitary antifacist Arditi del Popolo. Played a leading role in the 1920 factory occupations and became acting secretary of the Italian Syndicalist Union. Arrested in 1921 in connection with the Teatro Diana bombing; while imprisoned, elected to parliament as a protest Socialist candidate. After release, repeatedly assaulted by fascists and emigrated to Nice, France in 1923. Later joined socialist and antifascist exile organizations, served in the French military during WWII, returned to Italy after the war, and was elected mayor of Piacenza in 1956. Died in 1957.
Alba Galeotti, postcard to her son Ferrer, c. 1930s. Courtesy of Gina Norsedt.
Born: 1867, Canischio, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Housewife; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US c. 1902 Affiliation: Anarchist
After immigrating to the United States around 1902, she married coal miner Killo Gotti in Lafayette, Missouri, later adopting the anarchist name “Alba,” meaning “Dawn.” She named her children Idea (i.e. “L’Idea” of anarchism) and Ravachol (after the French anarchist of the same name). By 1908 she was contributing funds and articles to the Italian-language anarchist newspapers Cronaca Sovversiva and La Questione Sociale and corresponded with anarchists in Italy. She also raised money for the antimilitarist anarchist paper Rompete le file! in Milan. Following her separation from Gotti, she married anarchist miner Guglielmo Galeotti in 1909. The couple lived in mining communities in Kansas and Illinois and named their children Ferrer and Germinal. Unconfirmed reports suggest she was deported in 1916 and illegally returned to the United States. Arrested in 1920 alongside Galeotti, she escaped custody while he was deported. She continued anarchist activity, including collecting funds for the Sacco-Vanzetti Defense Committee in 1921. In 1923 arrested in Schulter, Oklahoma. While detained, she refused food for thirty-three days, was declared insane, and forcibly fed. Deported on January 10, 1924, leaving her two youngest children in the care of her eldest daughter, Ida (Idea) Gotti.
In Italy she did not reunite with Guglielmo Galeotti, and remained in correspondence with her children. Died in Turin in 1940.
Sources: Cronaca Sovversiva, May 31, 1913; Jennifer Guglielmo, Living the Revolution: Italian Women’s Resistance and Radicalism in New York City, 1880-1945; Henryetta Daily Stanard (Henryetta OK), January 1 and 2, 1924; Henryetta Standard (Henryetta OK), January 3 and January 7, 1924; Ancestry.com; additional information provided by Gina Norstedt.
Guglielmo Galeotti (a.k.a. William Galleoti)
Guglielmo Galeotti with his wife Alba and children, c. 1915. Courtesy of Gina Norsedt.
Born: 1871, Santa Sofia, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1902 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist in Italy during the late 1880s and was regarded by Italian authorities as a dangerous subversive. Repeatedly arrested and imprisoned for subversive activities between 1888 and 1902. Fled briefly to Switzerland in 1901, but was expelled and arrested on unfounded suspicion of complicity in the assassination of King Umberto I. Subsequently emigrated to and then expelled from Trieste. After immigrating to the United States, lived in mining communities in Pennsylvania, Kansas, and Illinois and became a leading figure in the Kansas anarchist Gruppo 11 Novembre. In 1909 married fellow anarchist Alba Genisio. In 1911 joined other group members in traveling to Mexico to assist the anarchist Partido Liberal Mexicano during the Mexican Revolution but soon became disillusioned and returned to the United States. Deported on February 19, 1920.
Although he remained under surveillance in Italy, authorities reported that by 1935 he had withdrawn from politics and allegedly showed sympathy toward the Fascist regime.
Sources: CPC busta 2236; Michele Presutto, La rivoluzione dietro l’angolo: Gli anarchici italiani e la Rivoluzione messicana, 1910-1914; Henryetta Daily Stanard (Henryetta OK), January 1, 1924; Ancestry.com; additional information provided by Gina Norstedt.
Luigi Galleani
Luigi Galleani, 1919. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1861, Vercelli, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Editor Migration: Immigrated to US 1901 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist while studying law at the University of Turin. After fleeing police repression in Italy, he lived in France and Switzerland, working with anarchist geographer Élisée Reclus, before being arrested, expelled, and imprisoned in Italy. While confined to the island of Pantelleria, he met his wife Maria. He escaped in 1900 and fled to Egypt and England before immigrating to the United States in 1901.
In the United States, edited La Questione Sociale in Paterson, New Jersey, and led the 1902 silk workers’ strike, for which he was indicted for inciting riot and fled to Canada, then Barre, Vermont, where founded newspaper Cronaca Sovversiva in 1903. Later relocated the paper to Lynn, Massachusetts. Emerged as the leading Italian anarchist proponent of insurrectionary violence. Deported on June 24, 1919, leaving his wife and six children behind.
Upon arrival in Italy, briefly arrested and then relaunched Cronaca Sovversiva in Turin. Imprisoned for sedition in 1922, and again arrested in 1926, serving prison time followed by internal exile. He remained under surveillance until his death in 1931.
Sources: INS file 54235/33; CPC busta 2241; Ugo Fedeli, Luigi Galleani: quarant’anni di lotte rivoluzionarie (1891 –1931); Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background; Antonio Senta, Luigi Galleani: The Most Dangerous Anarchist in America.
Alexander Gallod (a.k.a. Golod; Gold)
Gallod’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1888, Grodno region, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Socialist Party of America before becoming an active member of the Communist Party of American and then the United Communist Party in Camden, New Jersey, and Philadelphia. Arrested in Philadelphia on January 7, 1920, and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54811/973.
Laureano García
Born: Spain, year unknown Nationality: Spanish Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Anarchist; IWW
An anarchist and IWW member, he was arrested in Jerome, Arizona, in February 1919 and deported later that year.
In 1931 he contributed funds from Spain to the New York anarchist newspaper Cultura Proletaria.
Sources: La Nueva Solidaridad, June 14, 1919; Cultura Proletaria, April 18, 1931.
Rogelo García (a.k.a. Regelio García; Roglio García)
Members of Spanish-speaking Los Corsarios Group, including García, 1919. National Archives.
Born: 1894, Quibicano, Cuba Nationality: Cuban Ethnicity: Occupation: Cigar maker Migration: Immigrated to US 1903 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist around 1917 and joined the Los Corsarios Group, which published the anarchist paper El Corsario. Arrested in New York in February 1919 with thirteen other Spanish-speaking anarchists on unfounded allegations of plotting to assassinate President Woodrow Wilson. Although charges were dismissed, García was held for deportation. When questioned about his failure to naturalize, replied, “I do not even believe in my own country.” He was married to U.S.-born Blanca Fernandez and had an infant child at the time of his deportation on April 25, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54616/79.
Isso Gartner (a.k.a. Imre Geery or Geerry)
Born: 1895, Kassa, Hungary (present-day Košice, Slovakia) Nationality: Hungarian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Jeweler Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America
Joined the Socialist Party of America in Baltimore. A conscientious objector, he opposed military conscription during the First World War. Attempted to unionize Baltimore jewelry workers through the International Jewelry Workers Union (AFL). In May 1918 he was arrested on dubious theft charges, sentenced to six months in prison, and later interned as an “alien enemy” at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia. There he contracted tuberculosis of the hip, forcing him to use crutches. Upon release, Gartner was deported on May 8, 1920 on the unsubstantiated charge that he believed in overthrowing the U.S. government by force.
Sources: INS file 54709/38; Baltimore Sun, May 23, 1918; Jewelers’ Circular-Weekly, July 10, 1918.
Jack Gaveel (a.k.a. Jakov Zukatansky; Jackotonsky; Jacknowsky)
Born: 1889, Amsterdam, Netherlands Nationality: Dutch Ethnicity: Occupation: Labor organizer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1915 Affiliation: IWW
Migrated to England in 1905; returned to the Netherlands in 1910 and emigrated to Canada that same year. Joined the IWW in 1913 in Canada and became secretary of IWW Local no. 339 in Edmonton, Canada the following year. Migrated to the U.S. in 1915. Included in the federal indictment of IWW leaders in 1917, but dropped from the case before it went to trial. Acted as an IWW delegate in Los Angeles, where he was “active in organizing the Austrian and Croatian fishermen.” Arrested in April 1921 and sentenced to 1-4 years under California’s criminal syndicalism law. In San Quentin, refused to work in the prison jute mill, declaring: “I have never scabbed on my class outside of prison, and I won’t do it inside.” He was sent to solitary confinement, sparking a sympathy strike of thirteen other imprisoned IWW members. Deported to The Netherlands on August 1, 1924.
Remained active in labor and anarchist circles in The Netherlands. Into 1951 he resumed contact with the IWW and distributed IWW materials in Europe. In 1960, at age 71, he wrote: “I wish I were in America. I’d join you in the fight then.”
Sources: FBI file BS 186701-240; Industrial Worker, June 11, 1921; August 5, 1922; IWW Collection, Walter P. Reuther Library.
Fred Gazeyog (a.k.a. Gazeyek; Gazeycg)
Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to the United States in 1911 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Employed by the B. F. Goodrich Company and joined the Union of Russian Workers in Akron, Ohio, in 1916, becoming secretary of the local branch. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported to Russia on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Born: 1899, Guangdong, China Nationality: Chinese Ethnicity: Occupation: Student; restaurant worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1916 Affiliation: IWW
Entered the United States in 1916 via Mexico without inspection. Worked as a restaurant worker in New York’s Chinatown while attending Columbia University as a student of John Dewey. In January 1919 he was arrested as a leader of an IWW-led strike by Chinese restaurant workers. Deported to China in March 1919 on the charge of illegal entry.
Sources: INS file 54519/2; Baltimore Sun, February 6, 1919; The Rebel Worker, May 15, 1919.
Mikhail Hirney (a.k.a. Mike Hirney; Herney)
Born: 1899, Pokrovka, Samara Oblast, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Store clerk Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliations: Communist Party of America
Joined the Socialist Party of America and later became a member and secretary of the Flint, Michigan Russian Branch of the Communist Party of America. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54860/738.
Mikhail Hladish (or Hladysh)
Born: c. 1885, Galicia, Austria-Hungary Nationality: Russian (formerly Austro-Hungarian) Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliations: Communist Party of America
His wife remained in Europe when he emigrated. In 1919 he joined the Socialist Party of America and in September of that year transferred into the Communist Party of America. Served as secretary of the Communist Party branch in East Youngstown, Ohio. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54810/553.
Alfred Hoffman (a.k.a. Edward Compe; Edward Kerlap; Edwin Hoffman)
Born: 1886, Hamburg, Germany Nationality: German Ethnicity: Occupation: Sailor; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: IWW
Entered the United States in 1907 after jumping ship in San Francisco. Joined the Industrial Workers of the World around 1913 and repeatedly arrested for strike-related activities in Seattle. During World War I he was interned as an alien enemy at Fort Douglas, Utah. While detained, he stated, “I am not a German, no. I am not patriotic for any country.” He “voluntary departed” on June 23, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54379/64.
Fritz Arthur Holm
Born: 1890, Korsberga, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: IWW; anarchist
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1912 and identified as an anarchist. Subscribed to Alexander Berkman’s The Blast and wrote “Strictly opposed to war” on his draft registration card. He also served as secretary of the Scandinavian Defense League. Arrested in Seattle in February 1918, when authorities reported discovering “a wagon load of I.W.W. and anarchist literature” in his room. Deported in July 1919.
After returning to Sweden, Holm married Ellen Hildur Margareta Molin in 1923. Died in 1975.
Sources: INS file 54379/114; Ancestry.com.
Paul Holovkin (a.k.a. Prokop Holowkin; Golowkin)
Born: 1888, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Longshoreman Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliations: Union of Russian Workers
A widower, with a son in Russia. In 1919 he joined Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers in Baltimore. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
In 1921 he was reported to have been “shot by the Bolshevik authorities as an active counter-revolutionist.”
Sources: INS file 54709/318; FBI file BS 202600-2386-1.
Andrew Hostilla (a.k.a. Andrey Kastialla)
Born: 1895, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Drafted into the U.S. Army in 1918 and honorably discharged in December of that year. He later became a member of the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/353.
Peter Hydamachuk
Born: 1893, Podolsky, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Autoworker Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; to US 1917 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Worked as an autoworker in Detroit and was a member of the Machinists’ Union (AFL). attended a Detroit night school run by Russian Branch No. 4 of the Communist Party and signed an application to join the party, though no evidence indicates he became a full member. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/774.
Steponas Indriunas
Born: 1893, Kovno, Russia (present-day Kaunas, Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Became a member of Lithuanian Branch No. 74 of the Communist Party of America in Rockford, Illinois. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Born: 1897, Kovno, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Carpenter; miner; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Belonged to the Russian Social Democratic Party before emigrating.
In the United States he worked as a coal miner, and later for Ford Motor Company in Detroit. In 1915 he joined the Lithuanian Branch of the Socialist Party of America, which transferred into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested April 22, 1919, “while distributing radical literature on a Michigan Avenue street car,” he declared his belief in “the soviet form of government.” Deported February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54616/165.
Michael Kucher
Born: Nationality: Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Served as recording secretary of the Jersey City branch of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported March 30, 1920 to “Galicia” (likely either Poland or Ukraine). No further information has been located.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; FBI file OG 380877.
Efrem Kucher
Born: Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation:
Arrested in Brooklyn during the second Palmer Raids in January 1919 and deported as a radical to Russia on December 23, 1920. No further information has been located.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; The Standard Union (Brooklyn), Dec. 23, 1920.
Alek Grigorov Kuchinsky
Born: c. 1884, Vilna, Russia (present-day Vilnius, Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Textile worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Norwich, Connecticut, in September 1919. Arrested in January 1920, he was deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/9.
Mikal Kudreyko (a.k.a. Peter Kravchuk; Michael Kravchuk)
Mid-Week Pictorial, January 1, 1920.
Born: 1883, Pruzhany, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and child remained in Russia during his emigration. Became secretary of a Detroit branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in July 1918 at a radical picnic, he admitted he was “an anarchist, and proud of it.” After moving to New York he became secretary of the Housewreckers’ Union and coeditor of the URW paper Khlieb i Volia. Arrested with its editorial team in August 1919 and indicted for “criminal anarchy,” he falsely claimed he had left the URW in 1918 “because I thought this organization is not radical enough.” Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Reportedly died in Russia soon thereafter.
Sources: INS file 54554/23; Mid-Week Pictorial, January 1, 1920; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America.
Simon Kuish (a.k.a. Sam)
Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Rubber worker Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21.
Sources: INS file 54709/193.
Ivan Kulak (a.k.a. John)
Born: Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation:
Deported as a radical to Russia on November 27, 1920. No further information has been located.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G.
Roman Kulich (a.k.a. Kovalevich)
Born: 1895, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Belonged to Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party. Arrested January 1920, he was deported February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/722.
Mark Kulish (or Kulesch; Kulesh)
Born: 1890, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer; factory inspector Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
During the First World War he worked first as a factory laborer and later as a US arms factory inspector for the Russian Commission. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut, around 1916 and became secretary of the URW branch in South Manchester in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and falsely suspected of being a “bomb-maker,” he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21. His wife and child remained in Russia.
Born: 1890, Rokitnica, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Longshoreman Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Newark branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/345.
Tony Kurson (a.k.a. Kirsion; Kirson)
Born: 1884, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1909 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Luch Society in Ansonia, Connecticut, around 1917, which federal authorities claimed was a branch of the Union of Russian Workers, though he denied this. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/326; FBI file OG 382937.
Michael Kusbit
Born: Austria-Hungary Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation:
Deported as a radical to Austria on May 8, 1920. No further information has been located.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G.
Fedor Kushnarev (a.k.a. Theodore Kushnareff; Theodore Alexander Casher; Alexander Dalny or Dalney)
Fedor Kushnarev, 1919. National Archives.
Born: 1898, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Student; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Migrated to the UW with his parents and five younger siblings; his father died less than a year later. After graduating high school in New Haven he attended New York University. Joined the Union of Russian Workers around 1917–1918, organized a URW branch in New Haven, and in 1919 became financial secretary of the URW branch in South Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Arrested there in March 1919 under the pen name Alexander Dalney, the case was dismissed. In New York he coedited Khlieb i Volia. Arrested several more times under different names, he was last arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. He requested permission for his companion, anarchist organizer Rose Pesotta, to accompany him if deported. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
In Russia, arrested in Crimea in 1920 and sentenced to five years in a prison camp for “propaganda of libertarian ideas” and allegedly taking up arms against the Soviet government, but was later released after authorities deemed his imprisonment an error. He later concluded that “to support the Revolution means to support Lenin and Trotsky.” He briefly attended the Moscow Institute of Journalism and worked for the American Relief Administration as interpreter and secretary for US Colonel Walter Bell in Ufa during the famine, where he contracted typhus. Some sources claim he died in 1925, but in 1934 his mother petitioned the US government to allow him and his family to visit the U.S.
Sources: INS file 54709/522; Paul Avrich, Anarchist Voices: An Oral History of Anarchism in America; Elaine J. Leeder, The Gentle General: Rose Pesotta, Anarchist and Labor Organizer; Groupe des anarchistes russes exilés en Allemagne, Répression de l’anarchisme en Russie Soviétique; Elaine Leeder Collection of Rose Pesotta Papers, Cornell University Library.
Steve K______
His partially illegible name as it appears in the records. National Archives.
Born: Nationality: Yugoslavian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation:
The individual appears in immigration records under a partially illegible surname. He was deported as a radical to Yugoslavia on September 1, 1920. No further information has been located.
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.
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.
Born: 1896, Rakitnica, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
A member of the URW in Newark. He was arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Source: INS file 54709/337.
Julius Ohsis
Julius Ohsis’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1890, Riga, Russia (present-day Latvia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Latvian Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Socialist Party of America in 1915 and the Communist Party of America in 1919. He told authorities he served as financial secretary of the Lettish Communist Party Branch in Baltimore, though historian Vernon L. Pedersen described him as the “branch head.” Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was deported along with his wife Kate on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/541; FBI file OG 8000-385964; Vernon L. Pedersen, The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57.
Kate Ohsis (a.k.a. Katy; née Namin)
Kate Ohsis’s Communist Party membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1896, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Latvian Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Married Julius Ohsis in Chicago in 1917 and belonged to the Lettish Branch of the Communist Party in Baltimore. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920, she was deported along with her husband February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/542; FBI file OG 8000-385963; Vernon L. Pedersen, The Communist Party in Maryland, 1919-57.
Erofey Okoletenko (a.k.a. Nathan Duboff; Nick Dubov)
Born: 1895, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Migrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the URW in Detroit in 1916. Arrested January 21, 1919 following a jail term for “disorderly conduct and loitering,” he escaped custody June 5, 1920 but later surrendered at Ellis Island on the advice of attorney Isaac Shorr. He was deported February 1, 1921, supplied by the U.S. government with a fraudulent passport issued by the anti-Communist Ukrainian Diplomatic Mission.
In 1923 he traveled to Mexico and reentered the United States, where he was arrested for illegal entry. In 1924 he was again deported via Switzerland, but was turned away at the Russian border and returned to the U.S. ON August 23, 1924 he was deported once more, and returned to U.S. again in September 1924 after being not being permitted to enter Switzerland. Finally he was “paroled in his own custody” (i.e. set free).
Source: INS file 54709/673; Kansas State News, August 29, 1924; The American Flint, November 1924.
Adolf Olehnovich (a.k.a. Adam)
Born: c. 1882, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Belonged to the Russian Branch of the Communist Party in Racine, Wisconsin. He was deported to Russia February 26, 1921.
Source: INS file 54859/171.
Isidor Oleynik (a.k.a. Theodore Oleynik)
Born: c. 1886, Volhyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and child remained in Russia while he emigrated. He worked at Ford Motor Works and served as treasurer of Detroit’s Russian People’s Home, and belonged to the Union of russian Workers. Deported February 26, 1921.
He was refused entry at Libau along with several others because of his anarchism and coauthored an “Open Letter to the Russian Premier Lenin” in protest. Last reported to be stranded in Danzig.
Source: INS file 54709/502; Free Society (New York), October–November 1921.
Harry Olshansky (a.k.a. Harvey; Herasim)
Born: c. 1895, Samarkand, Russia (present-day Uzbekistan) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Tailor Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Lived in Detroit, where his wife and six children resided, four of them US-born. He belonged to Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 2 of the Communist Party and was deported to Russia March 18, 1921.
Source: INS file 54859/627.
Nikolai Omelianchuk (a.k.a. Nicholas)
Born: 1892, Tułowice, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913; then to US April 1919 Affiliation:
Entered the United States without inspection and was arrested two days later in Detroit after a group of Russian radicals disrupted a lecture by anti-Soviet Russian revolutionary Catherine Breshkovsky. He denied radical ties and was instead charged with illegal entry and being “likely to become a public charge” due to his suffering from influenza. He was deported January 22, 1921.
Source: INS file 54616/172.
Wong Tai On (a.k.a. Ong Wu Tai; Lee Tai Cen)
Born: China, year unknown Nationality: Chinese Ethnicity: Occupation: Student; restaurant worker Migration: Affiliation: IWW; anarchist
Attended Columbia University and worked as a waiter in New York’s Chinatown. In 1918 he joined the United Chinese Association, an anarchist-led union chartered under the IWW, and helped lead a Chinese waiters’ strike in late 1918–early 1919. Arrested January 16, 1919 on assault charges that were dropped, then on weapons charges that were also dropped, he was nevertheless held for deportation and expelled to China March 1, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54490/2; INS file 54519/2; New York Call, February 9, 1919; Rebel Worker (New York), February 15 and May 15, 1919.
Fred Onischuk
Born: 1894, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Autoworker Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; then to US 1916 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party in Detroit. Arrested January 1920 and held at Fort Wayne, he “voluntarily departed” to Russia via Canada October 16, 1920.
Source: INS file 54859/714.
Porfiry Onishchenko (or Onishsenko)
Born: 1886, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Ethnicity: Occupation: Steelworker Migration: Migrated to Canada 1913; to US 1915 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Onishchenko joined the URW in Buffalo in July 1918 and served as branch secretary and on various committees. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Source: INS file 54709/327.
Aleksandr Opotsky (a.k.a. Aleksandr Antonov)
Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
Joined the URW in McKees Rocks, Pennsylvania in 1917 and served as a delegate for the IWW’s General Recruiting Union. Arrested in Pittsburgh in April 1919, he told interrogators “I believe in no government of any kind,” and instead “I favor the system of [Peter] Kropatkin [sic].” He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After reportedly being imprisoned in seventeen Soviet prisons, he emigrated to Argentina sometime before 1921 with help from comrades abroad.
Sources: INS file 54616/135; FBI file OG 367935; Delo Truda, December 1937–February 1938.
Markus Naumovich Oradovsky (a.k.a. Marcus Oradovsky)
New York Tribune, December 23, 1919.Mid-Week Pictorial, January 1, 1920.
Born: 1895, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Sailor; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1916 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
traveled through Europe and South America before entering the United States without inspection in 1916. He helped organize a spring-makers’ union in Brooklyn and led a strike before joining the URW in 1918. He became secretary and editor of the URW paper Khleb i Volia and secretary of the Soviet of Workers’ Deputies of the United States and Canada. Arrested July 2, 1919, he declared, “I consider myself a citizen of the whole world.” He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
1920 reportedly imprisoned for his anarchist views, and in January 1921 Alexander Berkman reported that Oradovsky “Says they [i.e. the Bolsheviks] won’t let him work.” Later that year he signed a statement of the Union of Russian Anarchist Workers Repatriated from America which critically supported the Bolshevik dictatorship as a temporary necessity. His name is included on lists of victims of Soviet repression, but no further details have been found.
Born: 1894, Smolensk, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1910 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Became an anarchist around 1911 and joined the URW in New York. After the deportation of her common-law husband Markus, she petitioned to be deported as well and affirmed under oath her belief in anarchism and revolutionary overthrow of government. She was deported February 2, 1921 aboard the SS Estonia.
During the journey to Russia she served on a committee representing deportees in negotiations for better shipboard conditions, and threatened to take over the ship by force.
Source: INS file 54616/115A; Boston Post, March 6, 1921; New York Times, April 2, 1921.
