Biography
Krassavin, Michael b. November 5, 1909, West Ham, Essex (London), England, parents emigrated from Russia to England; To the US in 1919; Russian American; POW; Electrical Engineer; CP 1929; Received Passport# 281930 on May 12, 1936 which listed his address as 273 Rosedale Street, Detroit, Michigan; Arrived at Figueras via Agullana on February 23, 1938; Detained 15 days for medical observation; To Albacete March 11, 1938; Returned to the US on November 19, 1938 aboard the President Harding; After the war he moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Married Lorraine Ratke in 1941; d. May 14, 1971, Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Spoke English and Russian.Source: Scope of Soviet Activity; Figueres List; RGASPI Fond 545, Opis 2, Delo 103, ll. 120 M. Economeides, IB Delegation, Anglo Amer. Sect. Figueras, [March] 10, 1938, to Service of Personnel AngloAmerican section Albacete, Additional information on draft of 11th of March 1938; Opis 2, Delo 303, ll. 245; Opis 6, Delo 36, ll. 82; POW; Biographical information from Krassavin’s grandaughter Liz Roesch.
Biography: His parents emigrated from Russia to England where he was born. They then emigrated to the United States when he was ten years old. They settled in Detroit, MI. He was raised Catholic, but when he became a POW, he had asked a Catholic priest for help (of what kind, he never told my aunt or mother) and the priest spat at him. From then on he was estranged from the Catholic church and when he met my grandmother (Lorraine Ratke)he followed her to the Lutheran church. He worked for the Ford auto company until he moved to Milwaukee, WI in 1938/39. He married my grandmother in 1941 in Milwaukee, WI. He was a Volunteer with the Abraham Lincoln Brigade. He was a POW in 1938 at the San Pedro Cardena Concentration Camp. -Submitted by Liz Roesch, granddaughter of Michael Krassavin