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.