Odessa in the days of Stalin

In the early days of the USSR, Odessa had a hard time. The trading port could not develop in a closed country. In addition, Odessa, as a border city, remote from coal and ore basins, was not linked to the country's industrialization plans. But the "bourgeois architecture" and the enterprising people did not arouse the sympathy of Comrade Stalin.

In a planned economy, stagnation began in our city. Odessa became one of the few cities in the USSR where the population practically did not grow from 1913 to 1940. If 560 thousand people lived in Odessa before 1917, then by the beginning of World War II the population of the city had replenished by only 40 thousand people. During this time, the population of Kiev grew by 1.5 times, and Kharkov and the Dnieper (Dnepropetrovsk) - by 2.5 times. True, in parallel, Odessa took shape in the resort city and the cinematic capital.

The conditions for growth were formed only after the war, when Odessa, due to its location, became an important strategic military center. New production capacities pulled in from the rear here, and in 1947 the famous whaling flotilla “Glory” came out on the first voyage. But the former significance of Odessa had faded by then. If in 1913 our city was the third or fourth in the Russian Empire, then in 1956 it was already the 13th in the USSR.

South Palmyra 20-30s

it’s not only a city of famous poets, a muse for artists and architects, a city of creativity and cinematography, but also an ideal place for a day of thieves, cheaters, scammers and scammers ... And although Sonya Zolotaya pen, Mishka Yaponchik and other famous authorities of Odessa are in the past, the city continued to live its criminal life.

Odessa-mother in 1920-1930 continued to instill fear in curious tourists, replenished its unique thieves 'jargon, and the content of thieves' songs made it clear that high-profile murders, night raids, stabbings in ports and financial frauds continued to flourish in the city.

The famous Odessa thieves created their own schools, where they taught street children and orphans in criminal art and told them that theft was easy and mischievous. They confirmed their words in practice: they pulled a snuffbox out of a passerby’s pocket, sniffed the tobacco and returned the snuffbox to its place. This trick acted instantly on the pliable psyche of the boys, who gladly became students.

Of course, with the advent of Soviet power, the way of life of the inhabitants of Odessa broke, the criminal world also changed. Children of the working suburbs, whose parents were busy at work, were left to their own devices. In the overpopulated suburban neighborhoods, criminals were all in charge, becoming idols of children who had grown up without a parental eye.

The most impudent, smart and dexterous street "kings" were gradually beaten away from home and began to learn the craft, using their talent to supplement their own budget.

Scammers from all over the former Russian Empire came to South Palmyra. The detachment "Union of the Russian people" that existed in Odessa turned into a gang that was used by the authorities for reprisal without trial or investigation with the Social Revolutionary leaders, Jewish merchants, and many other undesirable authorities.

Then they sang in the markets: "Workers of all countries, take care of your pocket." There were many pickpockets. They were subdivided into screen-punks, screen-lesson, guest performers, marviheers. The latter were a thieves aristocracy.

A special school was created on Moldavanka along Vinogradnaya Street, where criminal art was taught. Future thieves and cheaters were trained on mannequins. Over each pocket and in each seam of the mannequin's suit, small and sonorous bells were sewn. And in their pockets lay watches, scarves, wallets, cigarette cases and other items.

In front of the “students”, the “teacher” emptied the mannequin’s pockets without touching the bells, and his colleague at that moment explained to the children how to ensure that all the thief’s movements were quick, but not fussy. After the screening and explanation, each student had to do the same. If the bells on the mannequin began to ring, the boy pretty much got it.

After several lessons, the children practiced on the streets, and part of the stolen goods was given as payment for science.

In Odessa there was another famous school of cheaters Leonidas, named after its founder - the Greek Leonidas, the inventor of the round timber.

Graduates of this school were required to contribute 15 percent of each of their winnings to the school fund for life. The most popular gambling games were hardware, baccarat, and macao, based on similar principles for dealing cards. This opened up unlimited possibilities for the students of Leonidas.

Experienced thieves - marviechers - took the most capable pupils into their jailers. The tyrykas distracted the attention of the one in whose pocket they climbed: they created a cork, vanity, and also interfered with the pursuit in the event of "fuse".

Pre-war Odessa was famous as a center of international espionage. It is enough to recall such famous and beautiful women as singer Nadezhda Plevitskaya, actress Vera Kholodnaya.

Youth crime flourished in Odessa. Hooligan gangs were operating on the streets. Hooligans were mostly amateurs: young workers violated the law only in their free time, but they did not know how to steal - they did not have the skill, they were quickly caught and planted. Graduates of underground schools by status were much higher than hooligans and it was hard enough to catch them.

At the beginning of the 20th century, pickpocketing became the scourge of South Palmyra, and in order to clean up the city a little, law enforcement officers dressed in civilian clothes carried out special raids from time to time.

Odessa catacombs

The history of Odessa catacombs began around the 30s of the XIX century. The construction of a booming city required cheap and affordable building material. They became Pontic limestone - a shell rock, on which the whole of Odessa stands.

At first, the stone was broken along the slopes of beams (ravines). Later, mining began to be carried out by the mine method using saws imported from England.

Before the October Revolution, the development of shell rock was predatory. Directly below the city, numerous quarry mines were created. To them were added passages from the basements of houses (in Odessa they are called mines), which, passing under the streets, squares, connected to a common underground labyrinth.

By the 60s of the 19th century, the existence of an extensive network of abandoned and operating mines near the city and the suburbs became a problem for Odessa - soil collapses began, any cracking of buildings was attributed to “catacombs”. In addition, the mines were often used for "dark" cases: smuggling, sheltering stolen goods, etc. In the catacombs they made a nest, located under the wing of the police, thieves and robbers.

By the end of the 19th century, stone mining was normalized by surveying engineers and steigers, Novorossiysk mountain district. The villages around Odessa - Usatovo, Nerubayskoye, Krivaya, Fomina and Kholodnaya Balki - were inhabited by mining dynasties.

After the revolution began, not only bandits, but also revolutionaries and deserters "registered" in the mines. For almost 10 years, the catacombs became a shelter for people somehow dissatisfied with what was happening on the surface.

In the post-revolutionary years, the issue of eliminating mines and combating soil subsidence was favorably resolved.

Since the 30s of the XX century, active stone mining has resumed. New mines were cut, old ones were cut. The mine workings array was growing, mine fields were interconnected. From one village it was easy to go underground to another.

And then the Great Patriotic War came, the mines began to settle down again. The local population was hiding along the entrances with belongings, pets. Partisan detachments were deeper based, deserters were hiding. Thousands of people have been underground for months, fitting mines for housing.

After the war ended, stone mining revived again. Now, with the help of technology, the most inaccessible areas were cut ...

Today, the catacombs continue to serve the city. In remote galleries fenced off from the main labyrinth by reinforced concrete lintels, warehouses, cellars for aging brandy, control and communication points in case of emergency, etc. are arranged.

A special technology aimed at the industrial cultivation of mushrooms in the famous catacombs was proposed at one time by scientists from the Odessa Agricultural Institute. According to the calculations of the developers, plantations with a total area of ​​more than 30,000 square meters can be laid in underground limestone excavations in the Odessa region.

Odessa catacombs, the most famous in the world, not only in their intricacies of labyrinths, but also in length, which reaches 3,000 (!) Kilometers. For comparison: the length of the Roman catacombs - three hundred, Paris - five hundred kilometers. Even the approximate topography of the Odessa underground labyrinth is unknown.

The catacombs have their own folklore. One of the legends tells about the Odessa captain, who took part in the rescue of the passengers of the Titanic. In gratitude, he was presented with a souvenir in the form of a golden model of a sunken ship. Soon the captain was called up to the front, and before leaving, he decided to hide his jewel in the catacombs. But he didn’t return from the war and nobody found the golden “Titanic”

Odessa! Dear Odessa!

Odessa! Dear Odessa!

I chose you forever

You are my dear princess

You are the Black Sea wave.



I will live now with you

'Cause I chose you for good reason

Meeting a noisy wave

You will awaken me ..



And you will be my wife

Where passion and sadness intertwined

And waking up in the morning dawn

You turn out to be a white sailboat!



You will be my faithful friend

Caught up in a difficult moment

You will make my dreams come true

And in waves you will wash away boredom.



The sea surface and the sky is blue,

Merged on the horizon into a thread,

And the sun was like golden

Surfacing from the depths, leaving a swell.



A cloud, the remainder drop wet

Like a snow-white sail pouting

Once again, looking at me,

Saying goodbye by the wind.



The ship smokes with a cradle

Cutting the sea surface in two,

Where does he slide headlong?

Scarecrow underwater inhabitants.



I’ll walk around Deribasovskaya,

Where will I hear a new joke

And whisper: Odessa! You are a piece of paradise

Well, that’s all, we’ve served steak with beer!

Only Odessa laughs through tears.

Only Odessa can joke like that.

So that it does not happen, but bright dreams

Do not allow her to embarrass the soul.

I know for sure, you helped them.

Now other parts are being eaten.

You, as always, are somehow behind

Mom Odessa is my village.

If Odessa became your native,

A hard worker or a parasite gangster

No matter how you twist or crumple

Hold the mark-you are Odessa.

A lot of different songs sung to you,

Without imitation, love is not melting

Invigorated by the sea, warmed by the sun,

Mom Odessa is my village.