Sam Carr (July 7, 1906 – 1989) was an organizer for the

Communist Party of Canada The Communist Party of Canada (french: Parti communiste du Canada) is a federal political party in Canada, founded in 1921 under conditions of illegality. Although it does not currently have any parliamentary representation, the party's can ...

and its successor, the

Labor-Progressive Party The Labor-Progressive Party (french: Parti ouvrier-progressiste) was the legal Front organization, front of the Communist Party of Canada from 1943 to 1959. Origins and initial success In the 1940 Canadian federal election, 1940 federal elect ...

, in the 1930s and 1940s. He was born Schmil Kogan in Tomashpil,

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, in 1906 and immigrated to

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in 1924, living in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

and Regina before settling in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

in 1925. Carr became an organizer for the

Young Communist League The Young Communist League (YCL) is the name used by the youth wing of various Communist parties around the world. The name YCL of XXX (name of country) originates from the precedent established by the Communist Youth International. Examples of Y ...

with Fred Rose.

Biography

In 1931, Carr was arrested with other Communist Party leaders and detained in

Kingston Penitentiary Kingston Penitentiary (known locally as KP and Kingston Pen) is a former maximum security prison located in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, between King Street West and Lake Ontario. History Constructed from 1833 to 1834, and opened on June 1, 1 ...

for 30 months for being an officer in the party, which had been declared illegal that year. Following his release from prison he was an organizer of the 1935 On to Ottawa Trek.What made Sam run?
''Time Magazine'', February 7, 1949 He was the editor of the Communist Party's newspaper, ''The Clarion'', before fleeing to the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

with other party leaders in 1940 when the party was again declared illegal. In 1942, following the

German invasion of the USSR Operation Barbarossa (german: link=no, Unternehmen Barbarossa; ) was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and many of its Axis allies, starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during the Second World War. The operation, code-named after ...

, those party leaders who had gone underground, including Carr and

Tim Buck Timothy Buck (January 6, 1891 – March 11, 1973) was the general secretary of the Communist Party of Canada (known as the Labor-Progressive Party from 1943 to 1959) from 1929 until 1962. Together with Ernst Thälmann of Germany, Maurice Tho ...

, turned themselves in to the authorities. They released after ten days on the promise that they would refrain from

communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...

activities. As a result, the Labor-Progressive Party was formed in 1943 as a legal front for the party; Carr became its national organizer. In 1946, after a cypher clerk in the Soviet embassy in Ottawa,

Igor Gouzenko Igor Sergeyevich Gouzenko (russian: Игорь Сергеевич Гузенко ; January 26, 1919 – June 25, 1982) was a cipher clerk for the Soviet embassy to Canada in Ottawa, Ontario, and a lieutenant of the GRU (Main Intelligence Direc ...

, defected to Canada, a warrant was issued for Carr's arrest and he again fled to the

. A

Royal Commission on Espionage The Royal Commission on Espionage was a royal commission established on 13 April 1954 by the Australian government pursuant to the Royal Commissions Act 1902 to inquire into and report on Soviet espionage in Australia. The establishment of the ...

was called to investigate his activities. In 1949 he was found guilty of conspiracy to obtain a false passport, and was imprisoned for seven years. Carr was one of the principal recruiters of spies for the USSR in Canada. By the time of his release from prison, Carr was no longer a member of the Labor-Progressive Party, but became active in the left wing organization

United Jewish Peoples' Order The United Jewish People's Order is a secular socialist Jewish cultural, political and educational fraternal organization in Canada. The UJPO traces its history to the founding of the Jewish Labour League Mutual Benefit Society in 1926. History ...

(UJPO) until his death in 1989. He wrote for the UJPO magazine under the pen name George Lewis.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carr, Sam 1906 births 1989 deaths Canadian political consultants Jewish Canadian politicians Canadian communists Soviet spies Canadian people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Canadian spies for the Soviet Union Labor-Progressive Party candidates in the 1945 Canadian federal election Canadian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Canada