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.
S. Barkovsky’s IWW membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1893, Chernihiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Became an active member of the Socialist Party of America, the Industrial Workers of the World, and the Ansonia, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers. He served as chairman of Luch, a URW front functioning as a mutual-aid society, and was a delegate to the 1919 URW convention. Arrested in June 1919 in Ansonia for “breach of the peace” connected to URW-led strike agitation, and arrested again in Hartford in November 1919, where authorities discovered a large cache of anarchist literature in his home. He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/405; FBI file OG 8000-364023.
Stanislaw Bartesiewics (a.k.a. Stanley Barton; Joe Rink, Joe Rynkiewich)
Born: 1888, Lithuanian territrories of the Russian Empire Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
As a young man he shot and killed a woman under unclear circumstances and fled to the United States in 1899, where his wife joined him. That same year he was extradited back to Russia, convicted, and imprisoned for three years and seven months, during which time his wife remained in the United States and divorced him. He re-entered the U.S. in 1915 and joined the Lithuanian section of the Communist Party of America. In Detroit in 1920 he was denounced as a violent Communist to federal agents by his second wife Julia, as well as his brother George and sister-in-law. Arrested during the January 1920 Palmer Raids, he was deported on January 20, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/6; FBI file OG 382016.
Ivan Baskevich (or John Baskevich)
Born: 1897, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Though he held socialist ideas in Russia, he had belonged to no organization prior to emigration. Shortly after his arrival he joined the Socialist Party of America and later became financial secretary of Cleveland’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party of America. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Soviet Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/943.
Aleksandr Ivanovich Batura
Born: Year unknown, Polish territories of the Russian Empire Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Anarchist; IWW
An anarchist and member of the IWW, he was arrested in Steubenville, Ohio, and deported to Poland on September 10, 1924.
Upon return to Soviet territory he openly criticized living conditions and declared that “only Commissars and not workers live well here.” For these remarks he was sentenced to the Solovetsky prison camp and subsequently to internal exile. In correspondence circa 1927 he wrote to comrades in the U.S. reporting: “The main thing is that I have no work and it is so hard to get anything. I have been actually starving here, moreover, I am sick.” International anarchist networks sent him aid between 1929 and 1931.
Sources:Pittsburgh Gazette Times, September 6, 1924; Senya Fleshin Papers, International Institute for Social History; G. P. Maximoff, The Guillotine at Work: Twenty Years of Terror in Russia (Data and Documents).
Morris Becker
Born: 1885, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1906 Affiliation: Anarchist
Supporter of Alexander Berkman’s The Blast and participated in the No-Conscription League. One of the first individuals arrested under the Selective Service Act of 1917, he received a sentence of one year and eight months in the Atlanta Federal Penitentiary for interfering with the draft. He described himself as “a man without a country,” an anarchist, and “an advocate of peace and not of force.” Deported on the Buford on January 21, 1919.
In Petrograd he secured factory employment but complained of poor conditions, prompting accusations that he was a “pampered bourgeois” nostalgic for “capitalist America.” After a decade of silence, he sent a coded letter to Alexander Berkman in 1931.
Sources: INS file 54235/32; Emma Goldman, Living My Life; Alexander Berkman Papers, International Institute for Social History.
Max Belesky
Born: 1888, Odessa, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Carpenter Migration: Immigration to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Left behind a wife and three children in Russia. In Detroit he joined Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party of America, which later became a Communist Party of America branch. Arrested in January 1920, he accepted “voluntary departure” and returned to Russia on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54859/752.
Emelyan Belesta (a.k.a. Michael, Andrew, or Andriev Belesta)
Born: 1886, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigration to Canada 1912; then to US 1916 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated to Canada. From there he entered the United States without inspection. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Pittsburgh around 1918 and was described as taking a “prominent” role in local radical meetings. Arrested in 1919 in possession of substantial quantities of radical literature, he was released on bail only to be arrested again for distributing a handbill calling for a nationwide general strike “to enforce the the lifting of the blockade against Russia.” He was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
He died of typhus in Ufa at an unknown date.
Sources: INS file 54616/134; INS file 54616/89; New-York Tribune, October 4, 1919; Delo Truda, December 1937–February 1938.
Bezil Belousov (or Basil Belusoff)
Born: 1881, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Had a wife and three children in Russia. Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1919 and was arrested in Fairmont, West Virginia, that November. Told immigration authorities he had joined the URW while drunk. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/593.
Demyan Belowky
Born: 1882, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigration to US in 1915 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the Communist Party in Detroit and was deported on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54850/994; FBI file OG 382092.
William Bendik (or Bendick)
Flier in Bendik’s possession when arrested. National Archives.
Born: 1894, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigration to US in 1912 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America or Socialist Labor Party
Although he claimed membership in Russian Branch No. 2 of the Socialist Party in Cleveland, authorities noted that he possessed Socialist Labor Party literature at the time of his 1919 arrest. Neither organizational affiliation legally qualified him for deportation. Instead, the case was built on allegations that after the police attacked a 1919 May Day demonstration, he boasted: “We only gave them a demonstration of what we will do July 4th; we will be prepared and have ammunition and everything, and we will show them what we will do.” Deported on December 21, 1919 on the Buford.
Born: 1880, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Lithuanian Occupation: Tailor Migration: Immigrated to US c. 1902 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
By 1919 he operated his own tailor shop in Baltimore. He joined the IWW around 1914 but left that organization approximately two years later. In 1917 he became a member of Baltimore Branch No. 1 of the Union of Russian Workers and participated in URW affairs at the national level. Arrested in November 1919 during the first wave of federal raids, he was deported on January 20, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54709/419.
Tom Benich
Born: 1895, Slavonia, Austro-Hungarian Empire (present-day Croatia) Nationality: Austrian Ethnicity: Croatian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Initially a member of the Socialist Labor Party, he joined South Slavic Branch No. 75 of the Communist Party of America in 1919, later claiming that his purpose in doing so was “to get the members to come over to the Socialist Labor Party.” Arrested in Youngstown, Ohio, in 1920, he declared during interrogation: “I believe that the working men should run this country.” Deported to Yugoslavia on September 1, 1920.
Source: INS file 54811/479; FBI file OG 384859.
Philip Beresko (or Berezka, Borodsky, Berezovsky)
Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belaruaian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 (via Canada) Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Employed by the Pullman Coach Company. He joined the Socialist Party in Rockford, Illinois, in 1918 and became a member of the Communist Party of America in November 1919. Arrested during the January 1920 Palmer Raids in Chicago, he stated to investigators: “I do not believe in organized government.” While out on bail in August 1920 he was arrested again, together with Kondrate Serovatke, while posting pro-Soviet placards on telephone poles. He accepted “voluntary departure” to Russia on October 16, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54808/7; FBI files OG 811, OG 386686, and BS 202600-152-1.
Edward Berg
Edward Berg’s IWW credentials. National Archives.
Born: 1880, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Union organizer Migration: Immigrated to US 1905 Affiliation: IWW
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1906. He worked as a paid organizer and delegate for Lumber Workers Industrial Union No. 500 of the IWW. Arrested in Spokane, Washington, in April 1918, he was deported on November 4, 1918.
S. G. Chestyakov (a.k.a. Gregory Chestikoff; Chestiakoff; Harry Chesniuk)
Chestyiakov’s URW membership card (which he attempted to rip up during his arrest). National Archives.
Born: c. 1893, Chernihiv province, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and child remained in Russia when he emigrated. Became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Donora, Pennsylvania. He was arrested there on September 1, 1920, reportedly after being identified either by an undercover Bureau of Investigation agent or, according to contemporary accounts, betrayed by a fellow URW member. During his arrest, Chestyakov and fellow activist John Sergeyenko were reportedly beaten severely by police, and anarchist literature was found in his possession. Tried and convicted under Pennsylvania’s Sedition Law and sentenced to one year in the Allegheny County Workhouse. Deported on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54885/30; FBI file OG 389087; Volna (New York), May 1921 (with thanks to Malcolm Archibald).
Andrey Chigraev (a.k.a. Andy Chigraeff)
Chigraev’s membership cards for the SPA and URW. National Archives.
Born: 1891, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Miner; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Union of Russian Workers
Belonged to the Greek Orthodox Church before emigrating to the United States in 1913; his wife remained in Russia. After joining the Ukrainian Branch of the Socialist Party of America in 1918, he became a member of the Monessen, Pennsylvania branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. An undercover officer reported that Chigraev actively participated in political debates focused on socialism and anarchism, and Chigraev admitted to anarchist beliefs. Arrested while on strike at the mill where he was employed and was subsequently deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/478.
Leon Chikalyuk (or Chikaliuk; a.k.a. Leo Chrikaluik)
Born: 1890, Russia (somewhere in present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; then to US 1915 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and son remained in Russia when he emigrated. Joined the Monessen, Pennsylvania branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 while participating in a strike at a tool mill. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/516.
Stepan Chinevich (or Hinievich)
Born: 1886, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
Involved in radical political activity in Russia prior to his migration. Moved intermittently between the United States and Canada for work. In Seattle, he joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917 and later became a member of the IWW in 1919. Arrested multiple times for radical activity beginning in 1917 and deported on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54235/94.
Maksim Chineyko (or Maxim Chinejko)
Born: 1890, Minsk, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Became a member of the Brooklyn-based Branch No. 10 of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 while working at the Guggenheim Copper Company in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. Deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/117.
Lev Ilyich Chizhevsky (a.k.a. Leo Chijefsky)
Born: 1896, Minsk, Konotop, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1917 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Brother of fellow URW member and deportee Stanislav Chizhevsky. Joined the Buffalo branch of the Union of Russian Workers, where he served as a distributor of anarchist literature. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After returning to Russia, he continued his education and became an engineer at a paper mill. He later joined the Communist Party of the Soviet Union but was arrested in April 1937 on charges of belonging to a counter-revolutionary organization and executed in September 1938.
Stanislav Chizhevsky (a.k.a. Stanislaus Chijevsky)
Born: 1896, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Brother of fellow URW member and deportee Lev Ilyich Chizhevsky. Joined the Buffalo branch of the Union of Russian Workers; arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/141.
Victor Chmylkowski (or Charnelkowski)
Born: 1869, Riga, Russia (present-day Latvia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Mechanic Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliations: Communist Party of America
Active in socialist and communist politics in Grand Rapids, Michigan, he was treasurer of Polish Branch No. 80 of the Communist Party. In 1914 he married fellow deportee Victoria Okulicz, and the couple had two U.S.-born children. Arrested in March 1920, Chmylkowski and his wife sold their property and “voluntarily departed” for Russia on April 7, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/528.
Victoria Chmylkowski (née Okulicz)
Born: 1893, Łęczyca, Russia (present-day Poland) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Housewife Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Immigrated to the United States in 1913 and married fellow deportee Victor Chmylkowski the following year. She joined the Socialist Party and later the Polish Branch No. 80 of the Communist Party. Arrested alongside her husband in March 1920 and “voluntarily departed” for Russia with him on April 7, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54861/137.
Andrey Chuprina (a.k.a. Andrew)
Born: 1881, Kiev, Russian Empire (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1916 (via Canada) Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers?
Settled in Detroit, where his wife and three children also resided. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 on suspicion of belonging to the Union of Russian Workers, though evidence suggests he may have only attended a few URW meetings. “Voluntarily departed” on September 25, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54709/551; FBI file OG 385742; United States Congress, Senate, Committee on the Judiciary, Charges of Illegal Practices of the Department of Justice.
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: 1894, Teramo, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Anarchist
An anarchist and subscriber to Cronaca Sovversiva. In December 1916, arrested in West Rutland, Massachusetts, for stabbing a police officer in the hand during a melee at an anarchist anti-preparedness event. In apparent retaliation, a bomb was detonated at the local police station, causing no injuries. After serving his sentence, he was held for deportation and deported on June 24, 1919.
Upon his return to Italy, he was arrested for avoiding military conscription during the war. He remained under state surveillance thereafter, but Italian authorities reported “good political conduct” from the time of his arrival through 1941.
Sources: INS file 54379/394; CPC busta 1928; Paul Avrich, Sacco and Vanzetti: The Anarchist Background
Anton Federako (a.k.a. Tony Federaco)
Born: 1891, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in Harrison, New Jersey, in 1919. Arrested in Newark during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919. When questioned, denied membership in the URW and claimed he had merely stopped by its offices for a glass of tea; however, an undercover federal informant identified him as a lecturer for the organization. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/339; FBI file OG 379806.
Nick Federov
Born: 1884, Samara, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1907 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A machinist residing in Milwaukee with his wife and daughter. Member of Milwaukee’s Russian Branch No. 1 of the Communist Party; formerly a member of the Socialist Party. His wife, Titena Federov, as well as her mother Olga and stepfather Mike Kruk, were also Communist Party members. Arrested in January 1920. When informed of the possibility of deportation without his wife, he stated, “I can’t live without my wife; maybe I going to get crazy, or something like that.” Deported on March 18, 1921, accompanied by his wife and child.
Sources: INS file 54859/149.
Maxim Fedorash
Born: 1884, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Communist Party of America (non-member)
Injured while working on a railroad in Canada in 1915 and hospitalized for two months. Later attended a Communist Party-run night school in Detroit and expressed support for Communist ideas, though he never formally joined the Communist party. Arrested in January 1920 and deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/770.
Ivan Fedosky (a.k.a. John Fedosky; Iwan Fesosky)
Born: 1889, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Migrated to Canada 1914; to US 1916 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America
Entered the United States via Canada without inspection. Member of the Russian branch of the Socialist Party of America in Detroit (which was not a deportable offense). In April 1919, turned over to Detroit police by his employer, the Great Lakes Engineering Company, for allegedly spreading Bolshevik propaganda among plant employees. Deported aboard the Buford as “likely to become a public charge” and for unlawful entry.
Sources: INS file 54616/170.
Kirio Fedyk
Fedyk’s URW membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1894, Kiev, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 (via Canada) Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1918. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/379; FBI file OG 271860.
Ivan Felchuk (a.k.a John; Filchuk; Wilchuk; Nilchuk)
Born: 1893, Skobelka, Volyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Autoworker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined Detroit’s Russian Branch No. 3 of the Communist Party in the summer of 1919. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/9.
Emil Feltman
Born: 1881 or 1882, Berlin, Germany Nationality: German Ethnicity: Occupation: Miner; union organizer Migration: Immigrated to US 1882 Affiliation: IWW
Migrated to the United States as an infant with his father; orphaned by age six following his father’s death in a mining accident in Butte, Montana. Enlisted in the US Army in 1898 and served in the Spanish-American and Philippine-American wars; honorably discharged in 1900. Joined the IWW in 1913 and became an organizer in 1918. Married fellow IWW member Fannie Martini in Bisbee, Arizona, in 1916. Arrested in Jerome, Arizona, in February 1919 while organizing miners during a strike. According to the arresting officer, “he also said that it didn’t make any difference where he was deported to, whether it was Germany or China, he would continue his present agitation as organizer of the I.W.W.s.” His mental and physical health deteriorated while detained. Deported on May 22, 1920.
After deportation, worked briefly as a coal miner in Westphalia and later migrated to Soviet Russia, becoming one of the first Americans to join the Kuzbas Autonomous Industrial Colony in Siberia. Left Russia along with sixteen other disillusioned Kuzbas members in September 1922.
Sources: INS file 54616/140; FBI file OG 194288; Harry Weinberger Papers, Yale University Library; J. P. Morray, Project Kuzbas: American Workers in Siberia (1921-1926).
Kiril Fengol ( a.k.a. Kirin Pinhol)
Fengol’s URW membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1896, Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Dishwasher Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Hartford, Connecticut branch of the Union of Russian Workers in 1919. Arrested in November 1919 and deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Born: 1879, Mogilev, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Belarusian Occupation: Miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife and two children remained in Russia when he migrated. He joined the Union of Russian Workers in Greensburg, Pennsylvania in July 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported to Soviet Russia aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Born: 1897, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Student; laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1908 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Immigrated to the United States with his family as a child and later attended the University of Pennsylvania for one year before financial necessity forced him into wage labor. In 1918 he married his childhood sweetheart, Tillie Karetsky. The couple became politically radicalized in Philadelphia, first joining the Socialist Party and later the United Communist Party. Gerish served as secretary-organizer of the Jewish Young Socialist Federation. Both he and his wife were arrested and deported to Soviet Russia on February 1, 1921.
In Russia, Gerish rose to prominence within the Communist movement and became a member of the Executive Committee of the Communist International. During the Stalinist purges, he was accused of Trotskyist sympathies, expelled from the Communist Party in 1937, arrested, and executed.
Sources: INS file 54810/821; Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1921; Fridrikh Igorevich Firsov, Harvey Klehr, and John Earl Haynes, Secret Cables of the Comintern, 1933-1943; Michael Buckmiller and Klaus Meschkat, eds., Biographisches Handbuch zur Geschichte der Kommunistischen Internationale: Ein deutsch-russisches Forschungsprojekt.
Tilly Gerish, 1921. Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1921.
Born: 1899, Kyiv, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Dressmaker Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Immigrated to the United States in 1913 to reunite with her childhood sweetheart, Grigory Gerish, whom she married in 1918. Active in the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union. Together with her husband, became politically radicalized in Philadelphia, first joining the Socialist Party and later the Communist Party. She was a member of the party’s Central Jewish Branch. Arrested in January 1920, she was deported with her husband to Soviet Russia on February 1, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/126; Philadelphia Inquirer, February 1, 1921.
Mikhail Gernet
Born: 1898, Arkhangelsk, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Lathe operator Migration: Migrated to US 1916 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America
Entered the United States via Canada without inspection and worked as a lathe operator in Detroit. Became a member of Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party of America. Arrested in April 1919 for allegedly causing a disturbance during a lecture by Catherine Breshkovsky that was critical of the Bolsheviks. Later testified that police beat him unconscious during his arrest, leaving him unable to raise his arms or eat without pain. Deported aboard the Buford on December 21, 1919, under the pretext that he was “likely to become a public charge.”
Sources: INS file 54616/172.
Natale Girolimetti
Born: 1899, Ancona, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Migrated to US year unknown Affiliation: Anarchist
An individualist anarchist described by Italian authorities “an individual of impulsive and violent character.” Deported to Italy sometime before 1921.
A “violent, irreducible” opponent of fascism, he was brutally beaten by Fascists upon his return to Italy. In 1921 he fled abroad, living successively in France, Luxembourg, Germany, and again in France, where he remained active in Italian exile radical circles. In 1926 he returned to Italy seeking medical treatment for head injuries sustained during earlier beatings and was immediately arrested for possession of antifascist literature. Released on parole, he was again assaulted by Fascists and arrested in 1927 while attempting to return to France. His mental condition deteriorated, and in 1928 he was confined to a psychiatric institution, where he died in 1932.
Sources: CPC busta 2446; Fabrizio Giulietti, Il movimento anarchico italiano nella lotta contro il fascismo, 1927–1945.
Bonaiuto Giusto
Bonauito Giusto, c. 1919. Archivio Centrale dello Stato, Italy.
Born: 1888, Castel di Casio, Italy Nationality: Italian Ethnicity: Occupation: Shoemaker; miner Migration: Immigrated to US 1909 Affiliation: Anarchist
Became an anarchist in the United States and joined the Circolo dei Studi Sociali in Kensington, Illinois. Traveled to Mexico in 1917 to avoid registering for the U.S. military draft and returned to the United States without inspection in 1918. Arrested in May 1918 during a raid on the Circolo and later detained in Chicago on the grounds of unlawful entry. Deported on December 20, 1919.
After returning to Italy, continued his anarchist activities in Castel di Casio. Arrested in 1923 for opposing the Fascist government and again in 1926 for resisting conscription, but was acquitted both times. Remained under government surveillance until at least 1940.
Born: 1896, Bosnia, Austria-Hungary (present-day Bosnia and Herzegovina) Nationality: Yugoslav Ethnicity: South Slavic Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
Joined the South Slavic Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Pittsburgh and transferred into the Communist Party of America in 1919. Arrested in March 1920 and deported to Yugoslavia via Italy on June 22, 1920, during which all of his luggage was lost.
Upon disembarkation in Naples, he was imprisoned for sixteen days due to misfiled paperwork from the Bureau of Immigration. He was then transported with bound hands to Trieste, and incarcerated in six different jails along the route. Writing from prison in Trieste on August 8, 1920, he stated: “The suffering was terrible. I am not able to write you everything about it. I do not think that human beings should be treated that way.”
Sources: INS file 54861/319; FBI file OG 387576.
John Janson (or Johnson; Jensen; a.k.a. Ernest Laukivirs)
Janson’s Socialist Party membership card, under the name Ernest Loukivirs. National Archives.
Born: 1886, Libau, Russia (present-day Latvia) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Latvian Occupation: Sailor; wrestler; model; writer Migration: Immigrated to US 1916 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America
Joined the Lettish Branch of the Socialist Party of America in Boston in March 1917, an affiliation that was not itself grounds for deportation. In 1918, he left Boston intending to return to Russia via the West Coast. Arrested in Denver for allegedly “advocating anarchy” and arrested again in Wyoming in June 1918. According to Immigration authorities, “The alien is highly educated, having written considerable fiction, and is therefore, holding the views that he does, a dangerous person to have in the country.” He expressed a desire to return to Latvia to fight for its independence. Janson was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
He appears to be the “Boston deportee” described by Alexander Berkman who joined the Cheka soon after arriving in Russia.
Sources: INS file 54379/534; Alexander Berkman, The Bolshevik Myth (Diary 1920–1922).
Deported as a radical to Yugoslavia on September 1, 1920. No additional information regarding his background or political activities has been located.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G.
Johan Johanson (a.k.a. John Johnson; born Jonas Back)
Johan Johanson, c. 1910s. National Archives.
Born: 1874, Finland Nationality: Finnish Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1901 Affiliation: IWW
His wife and two children remained in Finland when he emigrated. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World around 1917. Twice confined to an insane asylum in Idaho, once in 1915 and again in 1918. In September 1919, arrested in Spokane under the state’s criminal syndicalism law and deported to on August 14, 1920.
In September 1920, he was reported to have left Finland for Soviet Russia, and in September 1921 he was rumored to be en route back to the United States.
Sources: INS file 54709/81; FBI file BS 186701-200.
Ragnar Johanson (or Johannson)
Ragnar Johanson, 1918. National Archives.
Born: 1887, Stockholm, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Painter; union organizer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: IWW
Became involved in the Swedish labor movement at an early age, joining the syndicalist Young Socialist League around 1900 and later the Painters Union. In 1910, he participated in the founding congress of the Sveriges Arbetares Centralorganisation (SAC) and became one of its leading organizers and speakers.
After immigrating to the United States in 1912, he joined the IWW and became one of its most prominent Swedish organizers. Assisted Frank Little during the 1917 Butte copper strike, where Little was lynched, and received identical threats against his own life. Johanson was convicted in the federal IWW trial of 1917–18 and sentenced to ten years in prison and a $30,000 fine. His sentence was later commuted in exchange for deportation, and he was deported on January 1, 1923.
Upon returning to Sweden, he resumed work for the SAC as a national lecturer and organizer, managing its publishing house from 1929 to 1954. Briefly imprisoned in 1940 for condemning the Hitler–Stalin Pact and served as treasurer of the anarcho-syndicalist International Working Men’s Association from 1942 to 1954. He died in 1959.
Born: 1883, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1900; immigrated to US 1903 Affiliation: IWW
Migrated from Sweden to Canada in 1900 and entered the United States in 1903, subsequently moving back and forth between the two countries several times. He joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916. In March 1918, he was arrested in St. Maries, Idaho, and deported on November 4, 1918.
Sources: INS file 54379/197.
Oscar Johnson (a.k.a. Arthur Ludwig Holden)
Oscar Johnson, 1916. Everett Public Library.
Born: 1893, Göteborg, Sweden Nationality: Swedish Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1912 Affiliation: IWW
Joined the Industrial Workers of the World in 1916. He survived the Everett Massacre later that year and was arrested in connection with the incident, though charges were dropped in 1917. He was arrested again in Seattle on January 17, 1918. Immigration officials described him as “quite intelligent,” and “a very undesirable acquisition to the population of the United States.” Deported on November 30, 1918.
Sources: INS file 54379/9.
Mihail Jolnerovitz (a.k.a. Dimtro Jolnerovich)
Born: c. 1896, Vilno Governorate, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Hotel housekeeper Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Anarchist
Active anarchist and a member of the Anarchist-Communist Groups of the United States and Canada. Distributed the underground anarchist newspaper Free Society. Arrested in Cleveland on February 23, 1920, and deported to Russia on March 18, 1921.
Sources: INS file 55009/26.
John Justkavich (a.k.a. Sam Ushkovich)
Born: Russia, year unknown Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party of America in Bayonne, New Jersey. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Russia on December 23, 1920.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; The Morning Post (Camden, New Jersey), December 23, 1920.
Ivan Kabas-Tarasyuk (a.k.a. Vanaya Kabas-Tarasyuk; John Tarasuk; John Tarasyk; John T. Rasky; John Tarasky)
Ivan Kabas-Tarasyuk. Image from G. P. Maximoff, The Guillotine at Work.
Born: 1893 , Grodno, Russia (present-day Belarus) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1916. In December 1917, arrested in Akron, Ohio, for attempting to organize a strike among rubber workers but was released on bail. He later became secretary of the Baltimore branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested again in March 1919, he was deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
After returning to Russia, he became active in the anarchist Nabat Federation in Kharkov and was arrested and imprisoned in November 1920. Arrested again in October 1921 and sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for anarchist activities, during which he was transferred to the Ryazan labor camp, where he was shot during a prisoner riot and almost killed. He then escaped via the Black Sea, possibly reaching Crimea, but returned to Russia in 1922. In 1925, arrested for organizing an illegal anarchist group and sent into internal exile in Arkhangelsk. HExiled again in 1926 to Petropavlovsk for three years for corresponding with anarchists abroad, and in 1929 he was exiled to Tashkent for an additional three years. In 1974, historian Paul Avrich reported rumors that Kabas-Tarasyuk had returned to the United and lived in Chicago.
Born: 1899, Gukovo, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1917 Affiliation: Socialist Party of America; Union of Russian Workers
Entered the United States in 1917 by jumping ship. He joined the Bristol, Connecticut branch of the Socialist Party of America and later became a member of the Union of Russian Workers in Hartford, Connecticut. Arrested in December 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21.
Sources: INS file 54709/614.
Samuel Kadatsky (or Kodatsky)
Born: Russia, year unknown Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party of America. Arrested during the second Palmer Raids in January 1920 and deported to Russia on December 23, 1920. No further biographical has been found.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G; Butte Daily Bulletin, December 29, 1920.
Paul Kalach
Born: Russia, year unknown Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Migration: Affiliation: Communist Party of America
A member of the Communist Party of America in Detroit. Deported to Russia on January 6, 1921. No additional biographical information has been identified.
Deported as a radical to Russia on February 26, 1921. No further biographical information has been found.
Sources: INS file 55110/4.
Ivan Kalenov (a.k.a. John Kaleanoff; John Chaljin)
Born: 1897, Kubasovo, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Joined the Union of Russian Workers in 1917. He served as a volunteer organizer for the URW and frequently acted as chairman of meetings and as a delegate to organizational conventions. Also a member of the Workers’ Defense League. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/231.
George Kaltejika
Born: 1890, Russia Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1913 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
His wife remained in Russia while he emigrated. A member of the Union of Russian Workers, he was arrested in Youngstown, Ohio, during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/199.
Stepan Kaminsky (a.k.a. Steve Kaminsky)
Kaminsky’s URW membership card. National Archives.
Born: 1896, Podolia, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Machinist Migration: Immigrated to US 1914 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers; IWW
In 1919, he joined the Elizabeth, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers, where he taught arithmetic classes and participated actively in organizational life. He also joined the Industrial Workers of the World in October 1919. Arrested during the first Palmer Raids in November 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Sources: INS file 54709/158.
Ivan Kamisoruk (a.k.a. John; Komisaruk)
Born: 1884, Obertyn, Russia (present-day Ukraine) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Ukrainian Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to Canada 1913 or 1914; immigrated to US 1917 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
His wife and two children remained in Ukraine. In Detroit, he joined Ukrainian Branch No. 128 of the Communist Party of America. Deported to Russia on February 26, 1921.
Sources: INS file 54859/781.
Samuel Kanovich (or Kanonovich; Kanowich)
Born: 1891, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russia Ethnicity: Jewish Occupation: Migration: Immigrated to US 1911 Affiliation: Union of Russian Workers
Became a member and secretary of the Perth Amboy, New Jersey branch of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in New York in December 1919 and deported on the Buford on December 21, 1919.
Deported to Hungary as a radical on May 8, 1920. No further information regarding his background or political activities has been found.
Sources: INS file 54325/36G.
Gust Karniski
The circular Karniski was distributing when arrested. National Archives.
Born: 1886, Vilna, Russia (present-day Lithuania) Nationality: Russian Ethnicity: Polish Occupation: Occupation: Laborer Migration: Immigrated to US 1906 Affiliation: Communist Party of America
He married and had a child while living in Chicago. Joined the Socialist Party of America and was latertransferred into the Communist Party, though he denied this to immigration authorities. In April 1921, he was arrested by “two citizens” for distributing “anarchistic literature,” specifically May Day circulars published by the Communist Party of America. “Voluntarily departed” on May 4, 1923.
