Trudy Gold
Odesa: A Great City

Trudy Gold | Odesa: A Great City | 05.25.22

Visuals displayed throughout the presentation.

- And those of you who’ve just joined, as I said, I’m sorry I’m wearing dark glasses, but I’m suffering from eye strain, not being pretentious. Anyway, it’s very strange to be talking about Odesa because, of course, it’s so in the news. It’s on the Black Sea. It’s being contested by Russia and Ukraine. And that part of the world, I’ve visited Odesa twice actually, and it’s an absolutely beautiful city. Physically it’s a magic city. And at one stage, it was 34% Jewish. And it’s a very important city, not just, of course, the area that it’s in and part of the Russian Empire, then part of the Czarist empire, contested by Ukraine and Russia, but also, from a Jewish point of view, it’s absolutely at the centre of so many of the great movements that are going to occur in the Jewish world. And, obviously, there are certain areas I won’t be covering today. David Herman will be looking at Isaac Babel, of course, the great writers, and Patrick will be looking at the musicians. He said in his last lecture, there must be something in the water of Odesa. But remember, Odesa was a seaport and it was a cosmopolitan city. It was a gateway to so many other cultures. And the Jews living in Odesa were a very special breed. In fact, I’m going to begin this presentation with a quote from Jabotinsky, who was also a child of Odesa. He was a journalist in Odesa and, of course, later on, embarked on his extraordinary career in Zionism.

As was Trotsky living much of his life in Odesa, Ahad Ha'am, Pinsker, the father of the Yiddish theatre, he began his career in Odesa. So whatever discipline, whether you want to go into art, music, just think of the Conservatoire, the incredible musicians that came out of it. Whatever discipline you are interested in, Odesa was an extraordinary city. And there was a very interesting biography about 40 years ago. Many of you who live in England will know of the Winogradsky Family, or, basically, I’m talking about Lew Grade, Bernard Delfont, and Leslie Grade who were the great masterminds of British show business. And his mother wrote an autobiography. And basically in Odesa, many Jews spoke Russian. They did not speak Yiddish. That’s another difference with Odesa. So, it’s an extraordinary city, and as I said I’ve visited twice, I’ve walked up and down the Odesa steps. I’ve looked at the incredible monuments, and as you can imagine with the Jewish city, it had its huge highs and it also had its terrible lows. Judi, can we have a look at Jabotinsky’s quote, if you don’t mind. This is something Jabotinsky wrote in 1935. He wasn’t just a journalist and a great politician, he was also a very, very good writer and this is from one of the books he wrote, “Five Cities”, and he’s writing about Odesa. “I am a child of my age, I understand both the good and the bad in it, I know it’s splendour and decay: I’m its child. I love all its blemishes, all its poisons.” Anyway, can we begin looking at the history, if you don’t mind, and I want to turn to a scene of the Russo-Japanese War. Thank you very much, Judi. All right, what do we know about the origins of Odesa? It was an ancient Greek settlement on the shores of the Black Sea.

In 1440, the Khan of Crimea erected a small stockade there. Then for a short time, it was under the control of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. You remember we’ve covered this when we’ve looked at Poland and Lithuania. And then in 1529 it fell to the Turks. It was under Ottoman control until it’s taken by the Russians during the Russo-Japanese War, 1787 to 1792. A detachment of Russian forces, which ironically included the Zaporozhye Cossacks. You remember we talked about the Cossacks, tragically we talked about the Helman ischematsicas. This is a detachment of Cossacks, who were of course in the service of the Russian Empire, and they are responsible for taking the settlement. And one section was under the control of a Spaniard. Can we see his statue, please. Joseph De Ribes. Now, William told you how so many of the soldiers and thinkers in Russia from the time of Peter the Great are going to be coming from other countries, and this is Joseph De Ribes who was one of the most important people in taking the settlement. And in fact, the main street in Odesa, Derybasivska Street, is named for him.

Now, back in 1791, can we go on a little, this is just in the end of the war, a Polish nobleman called Antonini Potachi, he established trade routes. He had a huge trading empire, many Jews working for him. And he established the Polish Black Sea Trading Company. And he was very important in developing this little settlement in trade. And it was he, he was the first voivode of Kiev, and Odesa from a sleepy little fishing village, which it had been under the Turks, into an international trading centre. And of course it all happened under the control of Catherine the Great. So let’s have a look at Catherine. And in a couple of weeks, or is it week after next, I’m beginning to tell the story in detail of Catherine and the Jews, and of course her great lover, Potemkin, who I think we’ve got a picture of him as well. He was an extraordinary man. Can we see Potemkin as well? Yeah, that’s Gregory Potemkin. He was a man who was so much more visionary than the majority of the aristocrats of the time. And he had very close friends within the Jewish community. He loved ideas. And of course, so Odesa is now taken from the Turks and it’s renamed Odesa after the Greek colony Odessos, which was supposedly located in that area. And there was a real reason for that because one of the things that Catherine and Potemkin wanted to do was to develop this area for settlement. They want to create a really vibrant settlement on the shores of the Black Sea.

And in fact, Jews that wanted to settle there were given all sorts of tax concessions later on in the reign of Nicholas II, it’s in the reign of, I beg your pardon, Nicholas I. It’s fascinating. This is the Wild West that’s already Williams alluded to. This really is the Wild West now. It’s a trading post and it’s on the Black Sea, open it up to entrepreneurial merchants from all over, really all over the world. And we’re going to see the street of the Greeks. We’re going to see Italian merchants. We are going to see Jewish merchants. And in many ways, it’s remote. Once the Jews are finally incarcerated in Russia, because as I’ve already explained and I’ll be doing this in a lot of detail, Jews were not allowed to live in Russia per se. But Russia is going to conquer the Jewish areas. So consequently, we’re going to find a lot of Jews more and more are going to settle in Odesa. It’s far away from the central government and it was much more lax in terms of its anti-Jewish laws. And also, it was really for those who wanted an entrepreneurial life. So it becomes a very, very exciting city. In 1797, in the census, the first census, there were three and a half thousand people in the settlement. In 1801, the first commercial bank is opened. By 1803, there are 9,000 people. So you can see how quickly it is growing. Can we have a look at the map of the Ukraine. Next, if you don’t mind. Now, okay, this is a map of Odesa which shows you where it is. And of course, it’s in the area known as Ukraine, remember, which means borderland. And that’s a very old map which just gives you a notion of why it is so important.

Right, now, the Governor of Odesa in 1803 was an extraordinary man called the Duc De Richelieu. Can we see his picture next? Now the Duc De Richelieu. Look at his dates. 1766 to 1822. He’s a French nobleman and he’s going to be living through the French Revolution. And Wendy and I and my colleagues, we’ve decided that we’re going to be giving the amount of time we get to France that we’ve given to Russia in the quite near future. I think that’s because there’s so much to say about French history and also about Jewish history. So, he’s born into an incredibly important French family. And when his grandfather dies, he becomes the Duc de Richelieu He’s a royalist. Of course, he’s a royalist. He enters Marie Antoinette’s dragoons. And when his grandfather dies, he becomes the premier gentleman of the chamber of Louis XVI, which is an incredibly important post at the incredibly laboured French Court. When we get on to looking at the kings of France, people like Louis XIV, XV, XVI, I think we’re going to have great fun looking at the manners of the court. So the Duc de Richelieu is at the court. He is a captain in the Hussars, and of course, the revolution breaks out. He is quite close to the king and queen. And in 1790, he actually went, when the palace is stormed he actually manages to get Maria Antoinette to her husband’s quarters, which probably saves her life. She sends him to Vienna to discuss with her brother Joseph II, who’s also the Holy Roman Emperor, really her plight.

Remember, she is the daughter of Maria Theresa of Austria. Her family are incredibly important. Can her brother help her against the forces that now engulf her? Well, he dies. When Richelieu is there and Richelieu stays for the coronation of his son. And basically, the revolution overtakes them all. So what he does is he volunteers for the Russian army. He then joins the counter-revolutionary army of Louis XVI’s cousin, which of course is defeated. And then Catherine offers him various positions in her army. This also plays into what William and I have discussed. How many characters of importance from other countries are going to be attracted to Russia with Richelieu, because the whole dream of his life has now been shattered. He’s a very well-educated man. And also, Catherine saw herself as a figure of the European enlightenment, and William’s going to be talking about that, but I’m going to be specifically talking about later on Catherine and her relationship to the Jewish people. Anyway, by 1803, he is the Governor of Odesa. And two years later he becomes the Governor General of all the newly acquired Russian territory in the Crimea. Odesa is going to be under his command for 11 years, and it’s really going to prosper and grow into an extraordinary city. And he oversaw the building of much of Odesa.

In fact, he dies, he returns to France in 1814. Napoleon comes back. He goes with Louie XVIII as far as Lille, and then goes back to serve Catherine’s grandson, Alexander I. But for 11 years, this is my important point for you, he’s Governor of Odesa and he’s one of the main people responsible for the construction of a city that looks far more French than it does Russian. And there is a bronze statue to him built in 1828. He dies in 1822 and it’s at the top of the famous steps. It really horrifies me that it’s very, very unlikely that I’m ever going to go back to Odesa. And obviously, what’s going on in the Ukraine is absolutely horrific, but I wish I could get over to just how visually beautiful Odesa was. Can we have a look at some shots of Odesa, please? Now there you have the famous Opera House. The Opera House which was visited so often by Jews, and Jabotinsky wrote about it. And you can see the statue of the Duc de Richelieu and you can also see it at the top of those magnificent steps. I can’t remember how many there were of them, but we were sort of teasing each other about running up and down those steps. We stayed at a very, very splendid hotel called the Londonskaya. And when I first went to Odesa, because we were teaching Jewish history and Holocaust studies in the Ukraine, I took a car from Odesa all the way down to Dnipropetrovsk So I’ve driven through much of Ukraine.

But I think you can see, although two of them would be views are modern, I think you get a picture of what an incredible city it was. And of course, the one in the corner was taken at the “Turn-of-the-Century”. It was an extraordinary city. And as I mentioned, it was always a multinational city and that’s what gives it its real flavour. So it looks like a city in France. It had a French governor who really developed the city. And not only were there Italians and Greeks, there were Pols, there were Armenians and Turks, and some French and some English. There was an English club that didn’t allow Jews in, by the way. Adventurers, it attracted adventurers. And also, even after the Duc De Richelieu leaves his position, it’s still under very liberal governors, because away from the centre what they want to do is to create an important, important trading empire. And its major cultural centres were established very early. The theatre is incredibly impressive. The stage of the theatre is actually modelled after the French opera house, and it takes full advantage of the immagical shoreline. And then of course, you’ll have the incredible Opera House. And when we first went to Odesa, which was just as communism was collapsing, believe it or not, we had a box at the opera for $5.

Anyway, going on, I think, can we turn to, whilst I talk I’d like us to have the pictures of Odesa whilst I talk a little more about the Jews. When the Russians finally conquered the city from the Turks, they found six Jews. And this is when they took over the Turkish fortress. The oldest Jewish tombstone in the city dates from 1793. And remember, it’s much more liberal. Five Jews were amongst those who in 1794 received plots for the building of houses and shops and also for the planting of gardens. We know that a ḥevra kaddisha was founded in 1795. And we also know that by 1796 Jews are actually participating in the administrative areas of the town. So, as I said, it’s much freer than anywhere else. The kahal was already in existence when the first synagogue was built in 1809. They had a rabbi officiating. And as I said, from the beginning, every kind of commercial activity was encouraged. Odesa grew like a mushroom. And in the next decade, Jews are absolutely going to be at the cutting edge of the fastest growing commercial group within the city. When the Jews first arrived there in small numbers, it was the Greeks and the Italians who owned the bulk of the properties. And until the mid-century, they dominated the grain trade. Think about it. I’ve already mentioned to you, Ukraine is unbelievably fertile. You know, I remember when we drove, we took a nine hour drive from Odesa to Dnipropetrovsk, at the mouth of the Nipa, which is not far from Zaporozhye, the land of the Cossacks. And it was absolutely, extraordinary how lush it was.

But also, what a peasant society it was. Now, very soon, the Jews are going to begin to become the dominant force. By 1881, 53% of those engaged in trade were Jewish. By then, there were 17,000 of them in the city. So very quickly, you know, we’ve talked about this before, Jews and modernity. Now remember, this is in the Russian Empire and because the Czars want settlement here, and because it’s way away from the centre and as let me reiterate liberal governors, Jews find it much easier to operate. By 1875, 60% of the commercial trade, the firms are owned by Jews. By the 20th century, 90% of the grain export was in Jewish hands with the Jews owning half the city’s factories and two-thirds of smaller workshops. And one of the greatest of the families of all were the Ephrussi family. Now, the one I want to talk about is Charles Joachim Ephrussi. His dates are 1792 to 1864. I could find no paintings of him, so what I’ve decided to give you is a picture of the town he came from, Berdichev. There you see. That is the great synagogue in Berdichev, where, of course it’s the home of one of the greatest, one of the Berditchev rebi, one of the greatest rabbis, the great Tzadik in the Jewish world, which of course Phil was talking about yesterday.

So, this is the home of the Ephrussi family. And I’m sure you all remember that Wendy arranged for us the wonderful exhibition, “The Hare with the Amber Eyes”, because of Edmund de Waal is a descendant of the Ephrussi family. This is where Charles Joachim Ephrussi came from. And when he was in Berdichev, which of course is in that stage, was in under the control of the Pols, soon to be under the control of the Russians, the Jews made up 75% of the population. It was a real little shot. In the census, there were 1,951 Jews out of 2,640. And we’ve got a breakdown of them. 246 of them were liquor dealers, this is how they made their money, I think. You know, one of the issues of Jews in Eastern Europe is that they controlled most of the taverns and they dealt in alcohol. 452 of them were owners of property, 134 merchants, 188 artisans, 156 clarks, and 56 idlers. This is a census when the Russians take over. And by 1797, Prince Radziwill, this was on his estate, he granted seven Jewish families the monopoly of the cloth trade. They were very much a major force in the town. In that little town, there were 10 trade fairs a year. And of course, by the end of the 18th century, Phil’s talked to you about this, it becomes a major centre of the Hasidic movement.

Remember, 50% of Eastern Europe became Hasidic, and it’s the Tzadik Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev, whose dates were 1740 to 1809. And it was also a great centre of the clash between the Hasids and the Mitnagdim. And later on, by the way, it was the home of Vasily Grossman, who we were looking at later on. The great, great writer, and of course, the author of “Life and Fate”. Can we quickly, please, see the tomb of, there you are. There is the great tomb of the rebi of Berditchev, amongst the tombstones. You know, this is all over now, but people visit. It’s all over. Fascinating. Do you mind fleeting me back now to the pictures of Odesa, because I’m going to start talking. Yeah. Okay, thank you Judi. You can leave them there. Now, so, Charles Joachim Ephrussi comes from Berdichev to Odesa. He must have been quite a whiz because he’s going to become the largest grain distributor in Odesa. And also, this incredible entrepreneur controlled large scale oil resources across the Crimea. He becomes an incredible entrepreneur in not just the Crimea, but also in the Caucasus. And by 1860, he dies in 1864, by 1860, his family were the largest exporters of wheat in the world.

His eldest son, Leonid, founded a very important bank in Odesa. Leonid’s brother, Ignaz, moved to Vienna and of course had a wonderful house on the ring. And he created the Ephrussi & Co. banking house in 1856 and Franz Joseph made him a noble man. We’ve dealt with this when we looked at Vienna. So the Ephrussis, they became great art collectors. One of his younger half-brothers, Maurice, went to Paris and founded a branch of the family in Paris, and also subsidies in London and Athens. Now of course, not only were they vastly wealthy, this family, they owned castles, they owned palaces, estates, they had huge intellectual interests as you saw through the exhibition of Edmund de Waal. And in fact, Leonid’s son Charles is a fascinating character. Charles Swann in Proust’s “In Search of Lost Time”, a very famous book, it’s based on Charles Ephrussi. So, they became absolutely central to the cultural, intellectual, and wealthy life of Europe. They walked the world, but tragically, many of them were to die in the show. Anyway, keep the pictures because at the core of the Jews were immigrants from Galicia. Many came from Brody, where they started out by opening branch offices in Odesa then they moved to the city.

As I said, at first it was mainly the grain trade. About 300 Galician Jews had settled in Odesa in the 1820s, 1830s and they soon assumed communal leadership. They launched the city’s first modern Jewish school and they appointed a very forward thinking man, Bezalel Stern, who developed what we’re going to call the ideas of the Haskalah. Now, it was said of Odesa by the Hassids and the traditional Orthodox seven miles around Odesa burned the fires of hell. Because what happens in Odesa is that it become, we’re going to see a modernization. And I will be dealing, because these are such big subjects, I’ll be dealing with them all separately. I’ll be dealing with the Haskalah separately, and it’s also going to become the main seed bed of Zionism. Now, Stern, he opens a Jewish school for boys, and in 1835 he opens a school for girls. And by the 1860s, there was a certain amount of synagogue reform. We’re not talking about reform Judaism here, but they are beginning to introduce sermons into the vernacular. They are beginning to try and modernise. So, also, you begin to see clubs developing, synagogues, schools, newspapers, journals. And by 1867, it’s the largest branch of the society for the promotion of culture amongst the Jews of Russia. Now 1867, we are in the reign of Alexander II, who is known as the Czar Liberator.

Now already, William’s talked to you about serfdom. He is the czar who freed the 57 million serfs. In his early days, he was a modernizer. And William often says to you if you were writing a MA, or even an undergrad essay, in this particular case the title I would give you was, “Was Alexander II a reformer or was he a pragmatist?” He takes the throne at the end of the Crimean War, and what’s happened? Russia, the largest army in the world, is defeated by the British and the French. It’s obvious because the British and the French, despite the terrible tactics, think of the Charge of the Light Brigade, nevertheless, it’s because they had modern technology. Russia needed it. And he does begin to open Russia up to all his minorities, including the Jews. So, the Society for the Promotion of Culture was actually, there was a poet attached to it. And he said, just as Moses Mendelssohn had said in Germany three quarters of a century before, “Be a Jew at home and a man in society.” Aaron David Gordon said, no, I beg your pardon, leave Gordon. Not Aaron David Gordon. He said, “Be a Jew at home and a man in your tent.”

There was a move towards the promotion of culture in Russia. It seemed that maybe Russia was going to open up to the Jews. Of course, it’s all going to end terribly, but you have this brief period, and in Odesa there’s a kind of gaity in the city. There are clubs, there are nightclubs, there are bars, and yes, there are Jewish gangsters. “Odesa Tales”, Benya Krik, David Herman’s going to talk about this next week. And there was an area in Odesa called Moldavanka, which is going to be, really it was the centre of mainly poor Jews and it was awash with all sorts of crime. So see, every aspect of Jewish life in Odesa, you have the intellectual life, you have the artistic life, you have Jews going to the conservatoires and what a difference they’re going to make. It’s like if Russia’s opening up, Odesa is the freest city in Russia, what can happen? What is our destiny? And by 1852, I’m going back, over two and a half thousand students had already graduated from Odesa’s modern schools. By 1877, at the city’s commercial school, 80% were Jewish. Also in the girls schools. So as early as the 1850s, almost in preparation for the reign of Alexander II, you have a large number of young Jews who speak Russian.

Now, newspapers begin to appear in Russian. Jewish newspapers, Rassvet, The Dawn, HaMelits issued in Russian and in Yiddish in the same period. Major book publishers promoting books of the Jewish Enlightenment, which as I said, I’m doing a whole section on it. It attracted some of Russia’s most important Jewish writers, Joseph Rabinowitz, Margulis. And of course, it’s going to attract Leon Pinsker and Perets Smolenskin. And those of you who know about your Zionism, I am presupposing most of you listening do, Pinsker, for a short time, was really part of the Russian Enlightenment. He really believed that Russia was opening up. He was a doctor in the Russian army. And the pogroms of 1881 are going to, 1871, I beg your pardon, are going to change everything for him. So, you also have Jewish-born intellectuals like Mark Wahltuchvich. He publishes an inter, you may remember David Apima lectured on Pushkin on the weekend, and he published an Italian version of Pushkin in 1858. There are lots of Italians. And as I said, Abraham Goldfaden, he consolidated the first Yiddish theatre in Odesa. So, it’s cabaret culture, it’s Russian-Jewish culture. It’s Yiddish culture, lots of lively bars and halls, a huge diffusion, and it’s going to lead to the beginnings of klezmer. So, what do we say? It’s a singularly exciting city. It’s a musical city. Jews begin to become very important devotees of music. Who do you think are going to be the characters who go to the Opera House in Vienna? I beg your pardon, in Odesa? It’s almost likely it’s majority of the Jews.

Jabotinsky wrote a whole book about the Opera House. Lots of young, modern Jews going there. Jabotinsky, of course, becomes a journalist in Odesa. We’re going to see people like Elman, David Oistrakh, they’re going to begin their careers there. So, and what were they? They were cantorial musicians. So it’s also a centre of cantorial music. So, Abraham Goldfaden, he was actually born in a shtetl in the Ukraine. He becomes a very interesting poet. He moves to Odesa in 1867 and he sets his poems to music. Why? Because one of his cousins was a pianist. Music must have come out of practically every Jewish house in Odesa. I sometimes think, you know, I live on the edges of Hamstead, and if you think all those German and Austrian Jews who came to Hamstead, how so many of those flats resounded with chamber music when in Odesa it was piano, it was violin. And Goldfaden’s cousin set his poems to music, and he writes two plays. And this is really the beginnings in the cabarets of Odesa, where he begins the Yiddish theatre. And of course later on, he moves to Romania, and then America.

However, by 1897, the second largest Jewish population is in Odesa. 35% of the city, 140,000 Jews. Warsaw was higher, but Odesa’s the highest Jewish population in the city. And it’s also going to be home to one of my favourite, my heroes, Simon Dubnow. Home to Bialik, Lewinsky, Ravnitski, Lilienblum, I can go on and on and on and of course, I’ll be talking about them later on in the course because we’ll be talking about what they did. Now, Society for the Promotion of Culture, at its height, had one and a half thousand members. And it’s going to be, I’ll just give you some clues. The Society for the Promotion of Culture is all going to go wrong. What do you think happened to Pinsker when his dreams of acculturation were shattered? He writes that pamphlet, “Auto-Emancipation”, where he actually says, “Judeophobia is a psychic aberration. It is a 2,000-year-old disease. It is incurable.” And he mocks those who are fleeing to America and to Britain. He says it will break out there, only if you get rid of your ghosts on the face of the world. And this is a man who’d be nurtured in Odesa. And the Society though, before its terrible end, or the debates that we have today, what are the options facing the Jewish people? That’s what happened in Odesa. And also, the creating of artisan schools, the tarbert schools. They were the cutting edge of technical education. The Beseda Club of 1863. It becomes an exemplar for Jewish intellectual discussion.

So, also the Society, before its terrible demise, which I will talk about later, extended grants to a number of Jews to attend universities, gave money for the Hebrew newspapers, which promoted a general education. It aimed to publish Hebrew books on Russian history. Remember, it’s not breaking away from being Jewish, but it’s saying we can be Jews of the Russian Empire because you have that brief period when it seemed it could happen. Now, many of the Jewish leadership outside Odesa, where, remember Odesa don’t go within seven verses Odesa because the fires of hell burn there. Many of the traditional leadership were appalled by what was happening in Odesa. I have to also bring you to the dark side. I mean, by the turn of the century, despite the incredible cultural renaissance, a third of Jews registered for Passover relief. And the poor, as I’ve already mentioned, were concentrated in Moldavanka, and we must talk about the underworld. Because in 1908, of the 36 brothels in Odesa and around the region, 30 of them were owned by Jewish families. So it was also a centre of smuggling. And it was this kind of attitude, particularly in the reign of Alexander III and Nicholas II, the repressive Czars, that’s going to lead to a large social democratic movement.

And that of course, leads to a very interesting man, better known as Lev Davidovich Bronstein or Trotsky, who, you know, I’ve often, I suppose the two fat characters that I find most fascinating are Trotsky and Jabotinsky, because I find them both very similar. They both spent a lot of formative time in Odesa. Both were brilliant, both were arrogant, both were actually good writers and journalists. Jabotinsky decides to save the Jewish world. You know, when he was 18 he actually wrote, “I don’t like Jews very much, but I’m one of them and my fortunes will rise in four with them. So I will save them.” Trotsky wanted to save the world. And you have these two extraordinary intellectuals, and I’m sure I’ve said this to you before. If there is a talented playwright anywhere, can you just imagine the discussion between the two of them? They were both young men in Odesa. There is no evidence that they ever met, but I can’t believe that. Because they were such fierce intellectuals, and in a way they were both after the souls of the same people, young Jewish intellectuals.

So consequently, you know, that’s the problem with history and that’s one of the reasons I love Lockdown so much. I get so many stories sent to me now by people on Lockdown about their families. Who knows, maybe one day that story will come, ‘cause I must tell you a story. Oh, years and years and years ago when I first started teaching, I was lecturing on Trotsky. Now what do I know about Trotsky? I’ve just read about 30 books. And there was an extraordinary woman in the class who I know was totally credible. She actually ran youth AAR at the end of the war. She was an elderly lady, superb woman. And I said, as far as I know, Trotsky had very little Jewish background. She said, “You’re wrong, Trudy. He was my father’s Hebrew teacher in Odesa.” And we know that he lived with his mother’s brother who’d been the superintendents of the Jewish school. So stories, stories. Now, the other dark side was of course violence against the Jews. There was interethnic disagreement that tragically sometimes spilled over, particularly between the Greeks and the Jews. Think about it, the Greek merchants. And in 1821, think of the Greek War of Independent. It happened at Easter. It was a byproduct of religiosity and Greek nationalism and commercial competition, and the Greeks went on the rampage. It was put down, and most, the Russians didn’t participate or the Ukrainians in the city. This was the Greeks and the Jews.

There was another pogrom, again, caused by the Greeks, but it was more to do with commercial rivalry. There was a terrible pogrom in 1871, which lasted for three days before the authorities managed to put it down. And that was later seen as a precursor to the pogroms of 1881. And frankly, even in the 1881 pogroms, which were probably orchestrated after the assassination of Alexander II by the secret police, it was largely thwarted by the local authorities because they didn’t want the commercial. Remember, it’s remote from the centre. They didn’t want the commercial life of the city destroyed. But it was the devastating pogroms of 1905, the time of the Russo-Japanese War, that led to terrible murders. Over 300 Jews were murdered in that particular gasley pogrom, including 50 members of the Jewish self-defense group. That should tell you something about Odesa. There was a very strong Jewish self-defense group. So when the pogroms occur, you have young, tough Jews, men and women, who were prepared to defend the Jewish community. The Jews were also acute. The life of the Jews by this time in Russia was appalling, but we will do this in a lot of depth, so some of you I know will know a lot. And also, to a large extent, the Jews were helping the Japanese. It was Schiff who gave a huge grant to the Japanese because he hated what the Czars authorities were doing to the Jewish people. And between the 18th and the 22nd of October, you have this appalling thing. Many Jews were made homeless, 1600 properties were destroyed.

And the pogrom of 1871, I should have mentioned to you, that was started by because the rumour went round that the Jews had vandalised a Greek church, and that’s when the Russians joined in. But basically, life goes on in Russia, in Odesa, after the terrible pogrom. That’s what threw Jabotinsky definitely into Zionism. And of course, what happens in Odesa throws many young Jews into the social democratic movement as well. Now, of course, the next thing that is going to really engulf the Jews is the Russian Revolution itself. The city passed backwards and forwards nine times at the end of the First World War. There’s the Russian Revolution. You think about it, we’ve already discussed it, but we’re going to do it in a lot more depth. You have the Whites, the anti-Bolsheviks, the Whites. And don’t forget that the white armies were aided at the end of the war by the French, the British, the Americans, and the Japanese, and the Italians. You have the Ukrainian nationalists, they’re trying to break away. You have the French, you have the communists, and it wasn’t until 1920 that the communists finally take over Odesa. It is part now of the Soviet Union.

Now, and it’s Trotsky, Lev Davidovich Bronstein, who signed to the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk. Lev Davidovich Bronstein, who is going to destroy Jewish life in Russia. The setting up of the yosexiest, mainly manned by Russian Jews, Jews who no longer see themselves as Jews. They’ve thrown out of the window. We are now one people. So what happens under the communist Jewish schools, synagogues, other religious groups, including really, all the Jewish groups are, it’s all closed. They wage war against the Hebraist. And also, they stop as much as they can, ritual customs such as circumcision. We want to be one people now. And of course, there’s that extraordinary story of how a rabbi went to see Trotsky and said, “What are you doing?” And Trotsky said, “We’re one people now.” He gave the classic Marxist interpretation. “Once we give everyone their just slice of the cake, then all the differences between people will disappear.” And the Rabbi said, “Trotsky may well believe that, but one day Bronstein will pay for it.” And I believe very strongly that it’s the number of Jews in the revolution that’s going to lead to, it’s going to be a very important plank in that terrible anti-Semitism that’s going to grow in Europe after the war, after the First World War in the interwar period. Now, you’ve got to remember, before the revolution Odesa produced 60% of the Hebrew books.

That is now changed. They were allowed still to practise Yiddish. Yiddish is acceptable. Yiddish schools, but all Hebrew schools are first, are closed down. And tragically, all those wonderful libraries, that vibrant Jewish culture is destroyed. In its place, for example, the Brody Synagogue, the famous Brody Synagogue, was turned into the Rosa Luxembourg Worker’s Club. Rosa Luxembourg, that Polish-Jews, who went for revolution in Berlin, she’d written that extraordinary pamphlet. I discussed it with you a few weeks ago. There is no room in my heart for Jewish suffering. She says, “I must suffer for everybody.” And she in fact was shot by the rifle and her body thrown into the Landwehr Canal. But she becomes a great hero of communism, and the Brody Synagogue becomes the Worker’s Club. It becomes the main point of Yiddish gatherings. They can have Yiddish theatre, but it’s also a great centre for socialist propaganda. So that’s in 1939. There were 180,000 Jews in Odesa. And of course, that is going to make them incredibly vulnerable with the outbreak of World War II. Think of the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact while they’re still under the Soviets, but then in June of 1941, Russia, remember, had made the deal with Hitler. Anyone who knew anything about Nazis and knew that he couldn’t hold.

And Operation Barbarossa, Hitler’s forces sweep into Russia. They sweep along a broad front and they are Allied to the Romanians. August the fifth, the Germans and the Romanians besiege the city of Odesa. And when the city fell on October the 16th, thank goodness, about 50% of the Jews of Odesa have managed to flee further into Russia and some of them, of course, are going to survive. But at the time of the occupation, there were about, we’re not sure of accurate figures. Some historians put in 80,000, some at 90,000, but that’s the kind of figure. And immediately, of course, following the German army into battle, because we can no longer have a Judean right because we’re going for global war, you have the insanity of the Einsatzgruppen, the hit squads, 3,000 SS elite made up with, most of them had PhDs, by the way. A German historian spent a lot of time studying 900 of them. What did we expect? But they had a lot of help. And in the Odesa region, they had an operational division of the Romanian Intelligent Service. And the first thing they did, the Romanians, was to slaughter 8,000 Jews.

Odesa is established as the capital of Transnistria region, which is handed over to the Romanians by the Nazis. You see, Romania had lost much of its land at the end of the First World War. The Nazis give it back. That’s one of the reasons the Hungarians went into an alliance. And on October the 22nd, Romanian military headquarters, which had formally been head of the Russian Secret Service, was blown up. 66 offices and soldiers were killed. And Antonescu, who is the leader of the Romanian state, he was later executed at the end of the war. He ordered 200 communists killed for each officer killed and a hundred killed for each soldier. And he also ordered the taking out of one member of every Jewish family as hostage. Can you just imagine the fear and the horror? October the 23rd, 19,000 Jews were taken to the main square at the harbour and they were burnt alive. The same afternoon, the Romanians took another 20,000 Jews to the village of Dalnyk, which is just outside Odesa, and they were shot or burnt alive. I don’t need to go on. The community was destroyed in the most appalling way, and, no, I don’t need to go on. You don’t need this kind of, yeah. All we can say is that it all came dreadfully to a terrible end under the Nazis.

Now, did Jewish life revive in Odesa? Yes, it did. After the collapse of communism when we visited, there were the beginnings of really vibrant organisations. There were also two orphanages in Odesa that I know many Jews in the diaspora were supporting. Now, what is the future of the Jews in Odesa now? Well, that’s a big, big question mark. But isn’t it fascinating that the kind of issues of the 19th century that they discussed in the bars, in the clubs, what is the future of the Jewish people? You know, this extraordinary entrepreneurial people, who for a while were safe and secure in Odesa. Yes, there were terrible times, but in the main, you could live. Apart from that brief period of terrible pogroms, I’m comparing it, by the way, with what’s going on in the rest of the Russian Empire. It’s all comparative. It does make you wonder about the story of the Jews who really, to me, are the people of destiny.

So I think I will stop there. Judi, thank you so much for clearing up those beautiful pictures. What a tale to tell on Odesa. We have quite a few. Let me go onto the questions.

Q&A and Comments

Oh, this is from Susan telling me to turn my computer screen to blue. Thank you. Thank you, a lot of you are being really nice. Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is from Henry. He says, “My mother, when she was contempt, would say in Yiddish . Just like God in Odesa.” Oh, that’s lovely! That’s lovely, Henry.

Q: Sorge goes, “Is Hayim Bialik was from Odesa?” A: Of course he was. The great poem, the great poet, the great Hebrew National Poet. And his poem, “City of Slaughter”, was of course translated by Jabotinsky. I’ll be dealing with that.

You see, there are so many amazing characters that lived in Odesa. We’ve decided that when we do Zionist and we’ll look at the Zionist, Patrick will look at the musicians and David Herman’s going to look at some of the writers, so will David Apima. So you’re going to get it all. This is from Stephen. “My grandfather was born in Zolotonosha in 1879. 50 years in Poltava gubernia and 50 years in Toronto. He told me that Odesa was a magnificent city with wide tree lined boulevard equal to Paris.” Yes, Stephen, I’ve been there. It is an incredibly beautiful city. Remember, the Duc De Richelieu, the French aristocrat, the building of the city. I must admit though, when we went to the first opera at the Opera House, when we got a box for $5, we weren’t sure which language it was being sung in, but it’s much.

Q: Betty, “How about the great Hayim Bialik?” A: Yes, of course, Betty and I be, he gets a session on his own. Bialik, doesn’t he?

And this is Carol. “I was in Odesa whilst it still belonged to USSR and heard about the beauty of the city about 25 to 30 years ago. It was sad to see how neglected it was. We were hosted at the theatre with Ukraine Ballet. The theatre was in such a poor state. The velvet curtains were moulding and the whole place smelled to disinfectant.” Yes. This is from Barbara. “I visited Odesa in 1999. Cruise from Kiev to Odesa, then onto Yalta. Walked up and down the Potemkin steps, stalls on either side selling souvenirs, visited the avenue of the righteous dentals in the Opera House, a performance of peasant honour.” Yes, it was an amazing place to visit.

Q: “How was a French man in command in Odesa when it was under Russian rule?” A: After the French Revolution, as I mentioned, Margaret, a lot of French aristocrats, he was also a soldier, remember, gave their services to the Russians. And Peter the Great, Alexander, Catherine, they all employed foreigners because they were building, they’re trying to make Russia into a modern place.

“This is Peter Greece.” Hi Peter. “I was there too, Trudy. A beautiful city with cafes, patisseried, and treeline boulevards. Wish we had a city like that in London. The steps were named after Potemkin, I believe.” Yes! “Prospect of destruction by Putin doesn’t bear thinking about.” Yes, of course. The steps were named for the lover of Catherine the Great, who also conquered much of that area. He died before Catherine took Odesa. Valerie, “It’s painful to realise that Putin is destroying all the history.”

Q: “How can we find out what work our ancestor did in Odesa? My grandfather was born there in 1869.” A: There are far better genealogy people than me on this channel. I know Arlene is on this channel. Odesa, there will be records. Perhaps someone who specialises can help Rosie on this.

Oh, this is from Nanette. She’s saying it’s difficult to read the transliteration. “It’s a remark that my generation would not get away with it.” Sure, yes, you’re right, Nanette. Yeah. This is from John. “Apologies for missing the beginning of the lecture. Would you fill me in on the Duc De Richelieu.” Yes, yes. I already mentioned, he was a premier aristocrat in the reign of Louis XVI. After the revolution, he went to Russia. He offered his services and he became a very important man in Russia. And when the Bourbans were restored, he went back to fight for them. He then went back to Russia after the Bourbans were exiled.

Q: “How many of those burnt to death in the Union Building in 2014 by the Ukrainian nationalist?” A: I don’t know the answer to that, Robert. You see, this is one of the problems we have with Ukrainian nationalism. What Putin is doing is appalling, but Ukraine also has a story to tell. That doesn’t make it right. Doesn’t make either side right, actually. Although of course what Putin is doing is beyond horror. But in Ukrainian history and also the Ukrainian nationalists, what can I say?

Suzanne, “When I think of being in Odesa, it saddens us greatly to see it now. We needed to go on our son’s death, aw, mission in life. We were looking for a charity where we could donate his money. We’re informed the orphanage needed beds in the kitchen. Rabbi Bachs took us around the beautiful city. We were hosted by the children and put on a ballet for us. We managed to provide them with a hundred beds and installed a kitchen. It was truly magical.” Yes, I visited the orphanage. It’s quite extraordinary. You see, it was, Jewish life was reviving in Odesa. No question. “There is a portrait of Charles Ephrussi”, yes, “but he’s the grandson of the one who,” yes, I know, Alice. But it’s not the man who came from Berdichev. That’s his grandson. That’s the problem, and no maker has commented it’s not him. Karen says, “In some ways Odesa sounds like an Eastern European version of San Francisco.” Sure it does, yes.

This is from Carol. “We had an amazing exhibition at the Israel Museum of Jewish intellectuals. Coming from Odesa on the ship of Lantzland. Almost everyone was a personality who made a difference in the yeshuv.” Yes, of course. “Including the architect Zev Rector. I had the privilege of working in the office of Jacob Rector.” You see how much you people add to our knowledge? This is from Barbara. “The pianist Emil Gilels lived in Odesa. Number four Chuckolkovski Street.” Thank you, Barbara. Marilyn, “My father-in-law was a cantor born in Moldova. His brother was his manager and they went to Odesa to get him positions there. And his career flourished until the pogroms.” Now this is Monty.

Q: “A laughing South African Jew once said to me joking, Is that what we were talking about? 'The fires of hell burning in Odesa?’” A: I don’t know. I don’t have the Yiddish. Isn’t that terrible? Yiddish was the language that my great-grandparents on one side evidently used to talk to the children so they wouldn’t understand.

Q: “What were the relations between the Jews and the Turks in Odesa?” A: It would’ve been better with the Turks than it would’ve been with the Greeks and the Italians.

Q: “What year was the Romanian massacre?” A: 1941, Karen. That, you see, the Romanians were fighting with the Nazi’s Operation Barbarossa. The Romanians invade with the, sorry, with the Germans.

Q: “What about Ahad Ha-Am, Leon Pinsker?” A: Yes, of course, Ahad Ha-Am. I will be talking about Asher Ginsberg, but as I said, Leon, I didn’t want to go through the list of the names. I’ll be talking about Zionism in Russia. They were all part of the society for the promotion of culture at one stage. And I really think we would all agree that Ahad Ha-Am deserves more than just a mention.

Yes, Pauline, “My favourite writer is Isaac Babbel. His Odesa story’s one of the best, or one of the best ever written. Unfortunately, he was executed by the Stalin’s guard. Now next week, David Herman, on Tuesday in my usual slot, because I’m going to be away, he’s going to be lecturing on Isaac Babbel. So that should be something for you to look forward to. Thank you, Peter. Thank you. This is from Rebecca. "Do I have any information on the diamond craftsman in Odesa and they were involved with jewellery making for the czars. I have a friend who said her grandfather designed some pieces to the czars family.” Yes, I’ve heard that before. I haven’t got any detail on that. Does anyone on our chat, can anyone on our chat add to it? Yeah. Just think about it. It’s the import/export business.

Q: “What is the significance of one S or two in Odesa?” A: I think Odesa is the Ukrainian spelling, O-D-E-S-A.

“Odesa sounds like Cape Town.”

Q: “How many people from Odesa have gone to Israel in the US?” A: Well, I’ve got lots of friends whose family came from Odesa that was in London. Oh, I’m sure many of them. Look, a lot of them got out. I’m sure many of them did go to Israel and America. I know a lot of the Zionist ideologues from Odesa of course went to Palestine, which became Israel.

Q: “Can I comment on Zelenskky?” A: Not enough.

Rose, thank you. Oh, this is from Karen. Thank you, Karen. “Her last, last name Birdie from Birdie Chairman, my grandmother from Odesa.” Wow, and loves us all in the Lockdown team. Thank you so much, Karen. “I believe that the step,” this is from Marilyn, “I believe the steps were cut to appear as they had a vanishing point. They were specially cut.” And I’m sure, and I think, I don’t know if Professor Pima showed you that scene from Eisenstein of the Potemkin steps. If not, he’s going to be showing October later on in the course. And of course, that scene of the pram coming down the Potemkin steps is used as a device in so many other films. It was in an American gangster film. I can’t remember the name of it, but someone will online.

Q: “During this period, how was Lithuania paced?” A: “How was Lithuania placed at this time?” What happens, and I’m going to do it very succinctly when I look at Catherine the Great. Beginning in 1772, culminating in 1815, Russia swallows up the whole of the Polish-Lithuanian-Ukrainian Commonwealth. The bulk of it goes to Russia. A small section goes to Russia, another section goes to the Hapsburgs. Galicia goes to the Hapsburg. So the great Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is swallowed up. So Vilnius is under Russian rule until the First World War, then it all changes again. That’s the problem with living in Eastern Europe. I mean, what was it Hugo Gryn said? “I lived under five different rulers, but I never moved.” Look, remember what I told you about the beginning of the Soviet Revolution? Odesa changed sides, changed rulers nine times. Can you imagine what it was to been like, the horror? A good follow up.

“Charles King ‘Genius and Death in the City of Dreams: Odesa.’” thank you for that, Josie.

Q: “Did Odesa ever belong to the Romanians?” A: Well, the Romanians conquered the city with the Germans and it was given to the Romanians. But then of course, and then when the Soviets conquered it it goes back to Russia.

Michael tells us he visited Odesa in 2012 as part of a Jewish journey.

Q: “Why were there so many Jewish orphans in Odesa? The outset of the war, the orphans were taken to Jewish to Israel.” A: This isn’t this war. we’re talking now about, this is not this war we’re talking about. The orphanages, or I’m talking about the orphanages in Odesa as communism collapsed.

This is Evelin giving help. “If you want to research Jewish roots, join jewishgen.org for free. It has documents, translations, resources, all kinds of data. You can search it as a free site and the best place to start. It’s a wonderful community to be connected with.” Thank you, Evelin. You see what I mean? There’s always somebody who knows. Rosa, “At the moment, Jews leaving Odesa. They’re in Germany, Hungary, Poland, and starting to come to Canada.” Yeah, Jews on the move again. “Boris Pasternak’s family are Sephardic Jews from Odesa.” Yes, and David Pimu will be doing a session on Pasternak. This is from Michael. “Enjoyed the boulevards, which became Rothschild Boulevard in Tel Aviv. Found myself staring out to see at the end of the promenade from the Potemkin steps, imagining the Jews leaving from the Promised Land from the beginning of the 20th century.” Yes, that must have been quite extraordinary, Michael. The way you read Jewish history, you know, it was the Zionist option. This is from Gwendolyn, “My grandpa and all the family fled Odesa in 1900, arrived in a ship to Hol and settled in Leeds by the British, but”, you stopped there. Yeah, arrived in Hol, yes. A lot came to Holland and settled in Leeds.

Q: “Golda Meir was an Odesan?” A: No, I don’t think so, Joel. Golda Meir came from Minsk. Was it in Minsk?

This is from Alison, “There were 30,000 Jews in Odesa in 2014. But as I agree, as everyone now is absolutely tragic for the population.” Thank you, Alison, for your compliment. Susan, “I was a little late and saw comments that you’re not well.” Susan, I’m not ill. I’ve got eye strain. I probably need new glasses. Thanks, Susan. Lovely to hear from you and I really am coming to Cornwall, but Tanya’s coming up to me this week. Oh, Robert. Roberta says, “On another topic, I bought the Martin Gilbert ‘Atlas of Jewish History’ and I find it so helpful.” Yes, I’ve said this to you many time. If you can possibly buy it for your families as well. It’s so useful because we really are the wandering Jews, aren’t we? “The Jewish cemetery in Odesa is amazing.” Yes, of course it is, Betty. It’s the light. You know, I like to visit cemeteries where people died peacefully. Like for example, the Weissensee Cemetery in Berlin, because although there’s a memorial to the show, in the main, no people, it was no longer used as an active cemetery. And you get a whole smell of what Jewish life must have been like, every aspect of it. Bobby, “My mother’s family from Odesa and ended up in Berlin from the firing pan into the fire year.” Who could have known? You see, who predicts the future?

Q: “Why were there so many Jewish orphans in Odesa?” A: I don’t think it’s necessary. There are so many of them. It’s just there are two good Jewish orphanages in Odesa that were bright enough to turn to the diaspora and ask for help. You’re looking at a few hundred children.

Oh, thank you, Betty, for the translation. “I would saw my last search to be a rich man in Odesa.” Thank you, Betty. Oh, was Golda from Kiev? Was it Kiev or from, I better check that, Naomi. I think somebody better look it up immediately. Was it Kiev or what was it Minsk? Can someone help? Oh, I know! She was born in Kiev and then when the husband went to America, she took her family to Minsk. And she had no money, they went to Minsk and I think she pedalled there before the father earned enough money to send for the wife and the daughters. That’s, I think, is the story. Yeah, I think I’ve got to check that. And Stephen is saying, again, “Suggesting you go to Clubhouse app for Jewish genealogy. Live on Wednesdays at 8:00 PM and Sundays at 12 noon.” Thank you. Dr. Colin Leki is recommending a book, “From Odesa with Love” by Vladislav Davidzon, Woolworth Rud. And can I also mention that Steve Zipperstein who’s a brilliant historian, has written a very good book on Odesa.

This is Barbara. “Watch the very touching chorus and orchestra on YouTube a few weeks ago outside the Odesa Opera House. Seeing the slaves stories from Nabucco, be moaning the loss of their fatherland. Everything changes, nothing changes.” “She was from Kiev.” Yes, she was from Kiev and her mother took her to Minsk. This is from Rebecca. “My grandfather was born in the same town as Dubanov. My grandfather was younger and the two had connections.” Dubnow, you’re talking about. Wrote, “One of the volumes Dubnow wrote was given to be by my father in honour of the relationship between his father and Simon Dubnow.” He was a wonderful man, Dubnow. As I said, he’s one of my heroes. He was one of the great Jewish historians, and he wrote this beautiful piece where he said, “The Jews go their own way taking from other cultures, enriching other cultures, attracting and repelling, but somehow there is a magical destiny in the Jewish people.” And what happened to that wonderful man? He was shot, aged 81, by the Anset’s groupie. What is that line? “Any damn fool can put a bullet through the most beautiful brain.”

“Wikipedia says Golda’s born in Kiev.” She was born in Kiev and went to Minsk, and eventually, of course, to Milwaukee. This is Ramana, “Another wonderful Jewish genealogy is tracing the tribe.” Bobby saying thank you. Oh yes, Suzanne, “I was told not all of your children were orphans, but many had parents who were working full-time and couldn’t look after them.” Yeah.

Anyway, I think that’s all the questions. Bless you all and be safe. And Patrick is on tomorrow. So thank you, Judi, for everything, and see you all. I’ll see, no, when am I on again?

• [Judi] Wait, you not on again until-

• I’m on the week after next again, aren’t I?

• [Judi} You are. Yes, you are, Trudy.

• And Judi, thanks for everything keeping us all sane. God bless.

• [Judi] You’re welcome. Take care everybody. Bye-bye.

• [Trudy] Bye.