Shapiro Alexander Petrovich

Born in 1889 in the town of Surazh (according to other sources, in the town of Novozybkov), Chernigov Governorate; Jewish; from the bourgeoisie; graduated from the Surazh City School; mechanic. Began revolutionary work in Surazh in 1906 as part of a group of Social Democrats. In 1907, he was part of a group of anarchist communists that operated in Surazh and Klintsy, arrested in Klimovichi and spent about a year in prison. Sentenced on 30 May 1909 by the Mogilev District Court under Articles 134, 135, 139, 1629 and 1632 of the Punishment Code to 5 years and 4 months of hard labor. He was held in Mogilev Prison, then escaped. He was wounded during the escape and lost his left arm. In 1910–1911 he worked at the Berestovo-Bogodukhovskiy coal mine in the Yekaterinoslav province, organizing anarchist-communist groups there. In 1911 he returned to Surazh, took part in several expropriations in the Chernigov, Smolensk and Oryol provinces, and was arrested. By the determination of the Oryol District Court of 26 August 1913, he was sentenced to solitary confinement for 45 days and hard labor without a term of service with detention in a probationary detachment for 12 years, 3 months and 6 days, counting the term of punishment from 21 July 1911. From 1913 to 1916 he was held in the Oryol prison, and in 1917 he was transferred to the Yaroslavl prison. He was released on 13 May 1917. In 1918 he was sent to Novozybkov for partisan activity, participated in military operations on the Orenburg Front. He was arrested in Samara in December 1919. In the second half of 1921 he fled abroad. He was an active participant in the European anarchist movement. He took part in the Spanish Civil War. He died in 1942 in the Auschwitz concentration camp.