Biography
Ivan Anotsky was born in Grodno Province, Russia (present-day Belarus). Worked as a porter. Immigrated to the United States in 1915.
Hoined Russian Branch No. 3 of the Socialist Party in Detroit around 1917, and transferred into the Communist Party of America at its founding in 1919. That same year he traveled to Pittsburgh to speak publicly against the anarchists of the Union of Russian Workers. Arrested in Detroit during the first Palmer Raids in January 1920, he was described by the city’s Review Committee of Citizens as educated, thrifty, hardworking, and of high intelligence. Deported to Russia on February 1, 1921.
Upon arrival, he reportedly volunteered to help suppress the Kronstadt mutiny, afterward became a commissar, and ultimately fell into disfavor. One account claims he became an alcoholic and “degenerate,” and was sentenced to death for embezzlement, but escaped to Poland.
