Biography

Balagurchik, Elias (Ilya; Ylia); b. September 26, 1913, NYC; POW; Single; No political affiliation; Received Passport# 44886 on June 22, 1937 which listed his address as 76 East 3rd Street, NYC; Sailed June 25, 1937 aboard the Ausonia; Arrived in Spain via Massanet on July 11, 1937; Served with the XV BDE, 59th, Served at Fuentes del Ebro; Lincoln-Washington BN; Transferred to BDE Sapper Company; Lincoln-Washington BN, rank Cabo; Served at Teruel and Retreats (2nd Belchite), reported MIA; Captured March 10, 1938, Belchite, during the Retreats; Exchanged April 22, 1939; Returned to the US on May 10, 1939 aboard the Ile de France (returned on a certificate of identity); WWII US Army, stateside service;

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Source: Sail; Scope of Soviet Activity; Figueres List; Inventory North Americans; XB BDE, BN 58 Retreats; USSDA 2:0395, 52:0686; Pacific NW; L-W Tree Ancestry. Code A

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Photograph: Anthony Kerhlicker and Elias Balagurchick, Lincoln-Washington fortification, February 1938. The 15th International Brigade Photographic Unit Photograph Collection; ALBA Photo 11; ALBA Photo number 11-1031. Tamiment Library/Robert F. Wagner Labor Archives. Elmer Holmes Bobst Library, 70 Washington Square South, New York, NY 10012, New York University Libraries.

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