Lazarus Averbuch

Lazarus “Jerome” Averbuch (1889–1908) was a 19-year-old Russian-born Jewish immigrant to Chicago who was shot and killed by Chicago Chief of Police George M. Shippy on March 2, 1908. The incident occurred during an era of public fear of foreign-born anarchists in the United States, following their involvement with the Haymarket affair in 1886.

Background Averbuch is referred to most often as Lazarus Averbuch, but he was likely known as Harry or Jeremiah. He was born in 1889 in Kishinev, in the Russian Empire (the present-day capital of the Republic of Moldova). He and his older sister, Olga Averbuch, survived the Kishinev pogrom. Averbuch followed his sister to Chicago, Illinois, immigrating a year after her and arriving in late 1907. of George Shippy, Chicago's Chief of Police, in Lincoln Park. shots were fired, and Averbuch was killed. According to Shippy, this was Averbuch's fourth visit in two days, making him a suspicious figure. When they encountered each other in Shippy's entryway, Shippy grabbed Averbuch by the arms, attempting to disable him. Averbuch then allegedly drew a knife, and wounded Shippy in the arm. Then, Averbuch drew a revolver and fired, striking Shippy's son, Harry, as he entered from upstairs to investigate the noise. Shippy's driver and bodyguard, James Foley, entered the house and attempted to restrain Averbuch. Averbuch shot Foley in the hand before he was shot repeatedly by Foley and Shippy.

This account has been challenged as a misinterpretation of events. Some accounts report that the only item Averbuch carried was an envelope with Shippy's name and address on it. Inside was a piece of paper, sometimes described as blank, Averbuch may have been seeking a letter of good character from the police chief, which was the custom in the Russian Empire. Jewish press organizations in Chicago argued that he sought a letter of good character to travel or obtain work outside of Chicago. Two days after the shooting, anarchist Emma Goldman arrived in Chicago. Due to public outrage and negative press coverage of anarchists, she was harassed by police and cancelled her planned address. The story of Lazarus Averbuch struck author Aleksander Hemon as a failure of the American Dream. His novel, The Lazarus Project, follows an Eastern European immigrant to America discovering the story of Lazarus Averbuch.

Legacy The location of Averbuch's death is memorialized with a plaque at 2131 N. Hudson in the Lincoln Park neighborhood, where he was killed. The sign states, "In memory of Lazarus Averbuch who emigrated from Russia in 1908 and died here shortly thereafter."