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Victor Hammer (businessman)

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Victor J. Hammer (November 1, 1901 – July 21, 1985) was a businessman, the founder and owner of Hammer Galleries in New York City, and a philanthropist.

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113-645: Hammer was born in New York City, to Ukrainian-born Jewish immigrants, Julius and Rose ( née Lipshitz) Hammer. His father came to the United States from Odessa in the Russian Empire (today Ukraine ) in 1875, and settled in The Bronx , where he ran a general medical practice and five drugstores. Victor Hammer attended Princeton University , where he graduated in 1921 with a degree in art history. His older brother

226-679: A Cossack uprising , known as Khmelnytsky Uprising (1648–1657), under the premise that the Poles had sold them as slaves "into the hands of the accursed Jews." It is estimated that at that time the Jewish population in Ukraine numbered 51,325. An army of Cossacks massacred and took into captivity numerous Jews, Roman Catholics and Ukrainian Greek Catholics in 1648–49. A 1996 estimate reports that 15,000-30,000 Jews were killed or taken captive, and that 300 Jewish communities were destroyed. A 2014 estimate reduces

339-584: A higher number; in the period from 1918 to 1921, "according to incomplete data, at least 100,000 Jews were killed in Ukraine in the pogroms." The Ukrainian People's Republic did issue orders condemning pogroms and attempted to investigate them. But it lacked authority to stop violence. In the last months of its existence it lacked any power to create social stability. Among the prominent Ukrainian statesmen of this period were Moisei Rafes , Pinkhas Krasny, Abram Revutsky, Moishe Zilberfarb, and many others. (see General Secretariat of Ukraine ) The autonomy of Ukraine

452-536: A large scale. Despite this, the city grew rapidly by filling the void of those left with new migrants from rural Ukraine and industrial professionals invited from all over the Soviet Union. As a part of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, the city preserved and somewhat reinforced its unique cosmopolitan mix of Russian/Ukrainian/Jewish culture and a predominantly Russophone environment with

565-533: A mixture of different styles, including Art Nouveau , Renaissance and Classicist . Odesa is a warm-water port . The city of Odesa hosts both the Port of Odesa and Port Pivdennyi , a significant oil terminal situated in the city's suburbs. Another notable port, Chornomorsk , is located in the same oblast , to the south-west of Odesa. Together they represent a major transport hub integrating with railways. Odesa's oil and chemical processing facilities are connected to

678-592: A multiethnic cultural centre. As of January 2021, Odesa's population was approximately 1,010,537. On 25 January 2023, its historic city centre was declared a World Heritage Site and added to the List of World Heritage in Danger by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee in recognition of its multiculturality and 19th-century urban planning. The declaration was made in response to the bombing of Odesa during

791-509: A number of reasons, such as famine relief, as well as when the Soviets sought a buyer for the treasures of the Hermitage Museum as a way to earn hard currency. Victor was responsible for acquisitions for Hammer Galleries, including the so-called Romanov Treasures and Fabergé eggs . In 1937, Time described Victor and Armand as "Two of the most startling characters in the U.S. art world are

904-416: A plan that would end up being the city's plan. However, adjacent to the new official locality, a Moldavian colony already existed, which by the end of the 18th century was an independent settlement named Moldavanka . Some local historians consider that the settlement predates Odesa by about thirty years and assert that the locality was founded by Moldavians who came to build the fortress of Yeni Dunia for

1017-489: A profound effect on Eastern European Jews. His disciples taught and encouraged a new and fervent brand of Judaism , related to Kabbalah , known as Hasidism . The rise of Hasidism influenced Haredi Judaism , with a continuous influence through many Hasidic dynasties . A different movement was started by Jacob Frank in the middle of the 18th century. Frank's teachings were unorthodox (such as purification through transgression and adoption of elements of Christianity ). He

1130-475: A result, religion could be taught or studied only in private. On 1 February 1918 the Commissariat for Jewish National Affairs was established as a subsection of the Commissariat for Nationality Affairs. It was mandated to establish the "dictatorship of the proletariat in the Jewish streets" and attract the Jewish masses to the regime while advising local and central institutions on Jewish issues. The Commissariat

1243-579: A secular identity for the Jewish community. In 1921 many Jews emigrated to Poland , as they were entitled by a peace treaty in Riga to choose the country they preferred. Several hundred thousand joined the already numerous Jewish minority of the Polish Second Republic . Also, during the interwar period, thousands of Jewish refugees from the Soviet Ukraine migrated to Romania. On 31 January 1924

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1356-746: A ship was sent from here to Constantinople by sea. After the Grand Duchy lost control, the port and its surroundings became part of the domain of the Ottoman Empire in 1529, under the name Hacibey , and remained in it until the Ottomans' defeat in the Russo-Turkish War (1787–1792) . In 1794, a decree of the Russian empress Catherine II was issued to establish a navy harbor and trading place in Khadjibey , which

1469-678: A trade settlement established by the Greek city of Histria . Whether the Bay of Odesa is the ancient "Port of the Histrians" cannot yet be considered a settled question based on the available evidence. Archaeological artifacts confirm extensive links between the Odesa area and the eastern Mediterranean . In the Middle Ages successive rulers of the Odesa region included various nomadic tribes ( Petchenegs , Cumans ),

1582-499: A wave of anti-Jewish violence swept the southern Russian Empire (including Ukraine) between 1881 and 1884, after Jews were blamed for the assassination of Alexander II . In May 1882, Alexander III of Russia introduced temporary regulations called May Laws that remained in effect until 1917. Systematic policies of discrimination, strict quotas on the number of Jews allowed to obtain education and professions caused widespread poverty and mass emigration. In 1886, an edict of Expulsion

1695-636: Is also a Ukrainian naval base and home to a fishing fleet . It is known for its large outdoor market – the Seventh-Kilometer Market , the largest of its kind in Europe. Odesa was a contender for hosting Euro 2012 football matches in, but lost the competition to other cities in Ukraine. The city saw violence in the 2014 pro-Russian conflict in Ukraine during the 2014 Odesa clashes . The 2 May 2014 Odesa clashes between pro-Ukrainian and pro-Russian protestors killed 42 people. Four were killed during

1808-427: Is commemorated by a bronze statue , unveiled in 1828 to a design by Ivan Martos . His contributions to the city are mentioned by Mark Twain in his travelogue Innocents Abroad : "I mention this statue and this stairway because they have their story. Richelieu founded Odessa – watched over it with paternal care – labored with a fertile brain and a wise understanding for its best interests – spent his fortune freely to

1921-537: The Black Hundreds , opposed the Revolution with violent attacks on socialists and pogroms against Jews. A backlash came from the conservative elements of society, notably in spasmodic anti-Jewish attacks – around five hundred were killed in a single day in Odesa. Nicholas II claimed that 90% of revolutionaries were Jews. At the start of the 20th century, anti-Jewish pogroms continued to occur in cities and towns across

2034-635: The Black Hundreds . These militias incited and organized pogroms against Russian Jews. The official slogan of the Black Hundreds was "Bei Zhidov," meaning 'Beat the Jews.' Thus, during the Russian Civil War that followed the 1917 Revolution , the Jews became a crucial site of the conflict between revolutionary Reds and counterrevolutionary Whites, particularly in the contested territory of Ukraine. The Bolsheviks' official opposition to antisemitism—coupled with

2147-747: The Brest-Litovsk Treaty all Bolshevik forces were driven out by 13 March 1918 by the combined armed forces of the Austro-Hungarian Army , providing support to the Ukrainian People's Republic . With the end of the World War I and the withdrawal of armies of Central Powers, the Soviet forces fought for control over the country with the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic. A few months later

2260-555: The Duc de Richelieu , appointed by Tsar Alexander I as Governor of Odesa in 1803. Richelieu played a role during Ottoman plague epidemic which hit Odesa in the autumn 1812. Dismissive of any attempt to forge a compromise between quarantine requirements and free trade, Prince Kuriakin (the Saint Petersburg-based High Commissioner for Sanitation) countermanded Richelieu's orders. In the period from 1795 to 1814,

2373-631: The Golden Horde , the Crimean Khanate , the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , and the Ottoman Empire . Yedisan Crimean Tatars traded there in the 14th century. Since the middle of the 13th century the city's territory belonged to the Golden Horde domain. On Italian navigational maps of 14th century on the place of Odesa is indicated the castle of Ginestra, at the time the center of a Gazarian colony of

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2486-653: The Odesa massacre . Most of the atrocities were committed during the first six months of the occupation which officially began on 17 October 1941, when 80% of the 210,000 Jews in the region were killed, compared to Jews in Romania proper where the majority survived. After the Nazi forces began to lose ground on the Eastern Front, the Romanian administration changed its policy, refusing to deport

2599-592: The Pale of Settlement , of which Ukraine was the biggest part. The major massacres against Jews occurred mainly in the first phase of the occupation, although they continued until the return of the Red Army . In 1959 Ukraine had 840,000 Jews, a decrease of almost 70% from 1941 totals (within Ukraine's current borders). Ukraine's Jewish population continued to decline significantly during the Cold War . In 1989, Ukraine's Jewish population

2712-754: The Republic of Genoa . During the reign of Khan Hacı I Giray of Crimea (1441–1466), the Khanate was endangered by the Golden Horde and the Ottoman Turks and, in search of allies, the khan agreed to cede the area to Lithuania. The site of present-day Odesa was then a fortress known as Khadjibey (named for Hacı I Giray, and also spelled Kocibey in English , Hacıbey or Hocabey in Turkish , and Hacıbey in Crimean Tatar ). Khadjibey

2825-504: The Russian invasion of Ukraine , which has damaged or destroyed buildings across the city. In classical antiquity a large Greek settlement existed at its location no later than the middle of the 6th century BC. It has been researched as a possible site of the ancient Greek settlement of Histria . The first chronicle mention of the Slavic settlement-port of Kotsiubijiv , which was part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania , dates back to 1415, when

2938-467: The Tsentralna Rada 's Fourth Universal of 25 January 1918 which was aimed at breaking ties with Bolshevik Russia and proclaiming a sovereign Ukrainian state, since all Jewish parties were strongly against Ukrainian independence. In Ukraine alone, the number of civilian Jews killed during the period was estimated to be between 35,000 and 50,000. Archives declassified after 1991 provide evidence of

3051-746: The UN Group of Experts on Geographical Names in 2012, and adopted by the BGN/PCGN in 2019. This spelling appears in Encyclopædia Britannica and in dictionaries as the spelling for the Ukrainian city. As noted by the Christian Science Monitor , many in the English-language media outlets historically spelled the city Odessa , even after changing the spelling of Kiev to Kyiv, but since

3164-605: The Varangians who established Kievan Rus' in the 9th century, as well as various Italian colonies after the Mongol invasion of Europe . Under Catherine the Great, Russia gained, via the Treaty of Küçük Kaynarca , the lands where Mariupol , Kherson , and Mykolaiv would be founded. However, they were all handicapped in various ways relative to how much commercial interest there was. For example,

3277-534: The World Jewish Congress , the Jewish community in Ukraine constitutes Europe's third-largest and the world's fifth-largest. At times it flourished, while at other times it faced persecution and anti-Semitic discrimination . In the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–1920), Yiddish became a state language, along with Ukrainian and Russian. At that time, the Jewish National Union was created and

3390-492: The uniquely accented dialect of Russian spoken in the city . The city's unique identity has been formed largely thanks to its varied demography; all the city's communities have influenced aspects of Odesan life in some way or form. In the 1991 Ukrainian independence referendum 85.38% of Odesa Oblast voted for independence. Odesa is a city of more than 1 million people. The city's industries include shipbuilding, oil refining , chemicals, metalworking, and food processing. Odesa

3503-462: The " Potemkin Steps "), in one of the most famous scenes in motion picture history. At the top of the steps, which lead down to the port, stands a statue of the Duc de Richelieu . The actual massacre took place in streets nearby, not on the steps themselves, but the film caused many to visit Odesa to see the site of the "slaughter". The "Odesa Steps" continue to be a tourist attraction in Odesa. The film

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3616-570: The 10th century through the creation of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth in 1569, Poland was one of the most diverse countries in Europe. It became home to one of the world's largest and most vibrant Jewish communities. The Jewish community in the territory of Ukraine-proper during the Commonwealth became one of the largest and most important ethnic minority groups in Ukraine. Ukrainian Cossack Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky led

3729-400: The 1917–21 Revolution [REDACTED] USSR 1922–41 [REDACTED] Kingdom of Romania 1941–44 [REDACTED] USSR 1944–91 [REDACTED] Ukraine 1991–present Odesa was the site of a large Greek settlement no later than the middle of the 6th century BC (a necropolis from the 5th–3rd centuries BC has long been known in this area). Some scholars believe it to have been

3842-561: The Brothers Armand and Victor Hammer, one with a medical degree, both friends of Soviet Russia." According to Fabergé expert Geza von Habsburg , Victor stated that Stalin's trade commissar Anastas Mikoyan provided Fabergé hallmarking tools to his brother Armand to sell fakes. Victor stated a 1938 New York sale he ran with Armand, which grossed several million dollars, consisted of both genuine and faked items (called Fauxbergé by Habsburg), with commissions going back to Mikoyan. Hammer

3955-584: The Central Jewish Commissariat dissolved the kehillot (Jewish Communal Councils). The kehillot had provided social services to the Jewish community. From 1919 to 1920, Jewish parties and Zionist organizations were driven underground as the Communist government sought to abolish all potential opposition. The Yevsektsiya Jewish section of the Soviet Communist party was at the forefront of

4068-731: The Commissariat for Nationalities' Affairs was disbanded. On 29 August 1924 an official agency for Jewish resettlement, the Commission for the Settlement of Jewish Toilers on the Land ( KOMZET ), was established. KOMZET studied, managed and funded projects for Jewish resettlement in rural areas. A public organization, the Society for the Agricultural Organization of Working Class Jews in the USSR ( OZET ),

4181-547: The Crimea – national raions occupied the 3rd level of the Soviet system, but were all disbanded by the end of World War II. The cities with the largest populations of Jews in 1926 were Odesa, 154,000 or 36.5% of the total population; Kyiv, 140,500 or 27.3%; Kharkiv, 81,500 or 19.5%; and Dnipropetrovsk , 62,000 or 26.7%. In 1931 Lviv 's Jewish population numbered 98,000 or 31.9%, and in Chernivtsi , 42,600 or 37.9%. On 8 April 1929

4294-643: The Empire's border areas. During the Russian Revolution and ensuing Civil War , an estimated 31,071 Jews were killed in pogroms between 1918 and 1920 . During the Ukrainian People's Republic (1917–21), pogroms continued. In Ukraine, the number of civilian Jews killed by the Ukrainian Army under Symon Petliura during the period was estimated at between 35,000 and 100,000. Pogroms erupted in January 1919 in

4407-606: The Great established the Pale of Settlement that included Congress Poland and Crimea . During 1821 anti-Jewish riots in Odesa after the death of the Greek Orthodox patriarch in Constantinople , 14 Jews were killed. Some sources mark this episode as the first pogrom , while according to others (such as the Jewish Encyclopedia , 1911 ed.) say the first pogrom was an 1859 riot in Odesa. The term became common after

4520-646: The Jewish Commissariat. During the Hryhoriv Uprising in May 1919, almost 3000 Jews of Yelisavetgrad (today Kropyvnytskyi ) were murdered and their property stolen. In contrast with the Bolshevik government's official policy of equality among citizens, antisemitism remained deeply entrenched in the political and social ideologies of the tsarist counterrevolutionaries, especially among paramilitary groups such as

4633-445: The Moldavians owned relatively small plots on which they built village-style houses and cultivated vineyards and gardens. What became Mykhailovsky Square was the center of this settlement and the site of its first Orthodox church , the Church of the Dormition, built in 1821 close to the seashore, as well as a cemetery. Nearby stood the military barracks and the country houses ( dacha ) of the city's wealthy residents, including that of

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4746-400: The Ottomans and eventually settled in the area in the late 1760s, right next to the settlement of Khadjibey , on what later became the Primorsky Boulevard. Another version posits that the settlement appeared after Odesa itself was founded, as a settlement of Moldavians, Greeks, and Albanians fleeing the Ottoman yoke. Under Paul I of Russia , construction of Odesa was stopped, Franz de Voland

4859-539: The Russian Empire and the Ottoman Empire, as well as the demise of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, allowed Russia to start to fully exploit the ancient Black Sea trade across the coastal area through the steppe across southern and eastern Ukraine, into the hinterland of East Central Europe . Stable commercial activity in this region in practice in the past required both security through the overland routes, and knowledge of where products could go overseas. In antiquity, various Greek colonies had taken this role, followed by

4972-407: The Russian Empire such as Kishinev , Kyiv , Odesa , and many others. Numerous Jewish self-defense groups were organized to prevent the outbreak of pogroms among which the most successful one was under the leadership of Mishka Yaponchik in Odesa. In 1905, a series of pogroms erupted at the same time as the Revolution against the government of Nicholas II. The chief organizers of the pogroms were

5085-519: The Russian and other European networks by strategic pipelines . In 2000, the Quarantine Pier at Odesa Commercial Sea Port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a period of 25 years. Odesa is sometimes called the Pearl by the Sea, the Southern Capital, Odesa-mama and the Humour Capital , as well as Southern Palmyra . In 1795 the city was named Odessa in accordance with the Greek Plan of Empress Catherine II. Catherine's Secretary of State Adrian Gribovsky claimed in his memoirs that

5198-406: The Soviet authorities had been able to evacuate 200,000 people as well as weaponry and industrial equipment. A day later, Odesa was made the capital of Transnistria . Partisan fighting continued, however, in the city's catacombs . Following the siege, and the Axis occupation, approximately 25,000 Odesans were murdered in the outskirts of the city and over 35,000 deported; this came to be known as

5311-476: The Soviet government annexed territory from Poland , Romania (both would be incorporated into the Ukrainian SSR after World War II ) and the Baltic states , roughly two million Jews became Soviet citizens. Restrictions on Jews that had existed in those countries were lifted. At the same time, Jewish organizations in the transferred territories were shut down and their leaders were arrested and exiled. Approximately 250,000 Jews escaped or were evacuated from

5424-422: The Soviet official view that the period was exclusively a time of hardship, deprivation, oppression and suffering – claims embodied in public monuments and disseminated through the media to this day. Subsequent Soviet policies imprisoned and executed numerous Odesans (and deported most of the German population) on account of collaboration with the occupiers. During the 1960s and 1970s, the city grew. Nevertheless,

5537-449: The Turkish fortress of Khadjibey was located. The newly acquired Ochakov Oblast was promised to the Cossacks by the Russian government for resettlement. On permission of the Archbishop of Yekaterinoslav Amvrosiy, the Black Sea Kosh Host, that was located around the area between Bender and Ochakiv , built second after Sucleia wooden church of Saint Nicholas. By the Highest rescript of 17 June 1792 addressed to General Kakhovsky it

5650-420: The annexed territories to the Soviet interior prior to the Nazi invasion. Odesa Odesa (also spelled Odessa ) is the third most populous city and municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea . The city is also the administrative centre of the Odesa Raion and Odesa Oblast , as well as

5763-414: The anti-religious campaigns of the 1920s that led to the closing of religious institutions, the break-up of religious communities and the further restriction of access to religious education. To that end a series of "community trials" against the Jewish religion were held. The last known such trial, on the subject of circumcision, was held in 1928 in Kharkiv . At the same time, the body worked to establish

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5876-420: The approximately 2,000 pogroms carried out in Ukraine were organized by White Army forces. eyewitnesses reported hearing counterrevolutionary militia members expound slogans such as, "We beat the Yids, we beat the Commune", and "This is the answer to the Bolsheviks for the Red Terror ." Recent studies hold that about 30,000 Jews were killed in these pogroms, while another 150,000 died from wounds sustained during

5989-774: The beginning of Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine more outlets and style guides have been shifting away from Russian transliterations. [REDACTED] Grand Duchy of Lithuania 1415–84 [REDACTED] Ottoman Empire 1484–1789 [REDACTED] Russian Empire 1789–1917 Beginning of 1917–21 Revolution [REDACTED] Russian Provisional Government 1917 [REDACTED] UPR Dec. 1917–Nov. 1918 [REDACTED] OSR Jan.–March 1918 [REDACTED] Ukrainian State March–Dec. 1918 [REDACTED] AFSR Dec. 1918–April 1919 [REDACTED] PWPGU / [REDACTED] UkSSR April–Aug. 1919 [REDACTED] AFSR Aug. 1919–Feb. 1920 [REDACTED] / [REDACTED] / [REDACTED] UkSSR Feb. 1920–Dec. 1922 End of

6102-425: The city was occupied by the French Army and the Greek Army that supported the Russian White Army in its struggle with the Bolsheviks. The Ukrainian general Nykyfor Hryhoriv who sided with Bolsheviks managed to drive the Triple Entente forces out of the city, but Odesa was soon retaken by the Russian White Army. By 1920 the Soviet Red Army managed to overpower both the Ukrainian and Russian White Army and secure

6215-411: The city's Euromaidan Coordination Center and a cargo train car were (non-lethally) bombed. Until 18 July 2020, Odesa was incorporated as a city of oblast significance . In July 2020, as part of the administrative reform of Ukraine, which reduced the number of raions of Odesa Oblast to seven, the city of Odesa was merged into newly established Odesa Raion. In the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine ,

6328-406: The city's map, for example Frantsuzky (French) and Italiansky (Italian) Boulevards, Grecheskaya (Greek), Yevreyskaya (Jewish), Arnautskaya (Albanian) Streets). The Filiki Eteria , a Greek freemasonry -style society that was to play an important role in the Greek War of Independence , was founded in Odesa in 1814 before relocating to Constantinople in 1818. Odesa's cosmopolitan nature

6441-435: The city. The people of Odesa suffered badly from a famine that resulted from the Russian Civil War in 1921–1922 due to the Soviet policies of prodrazverstka . In 1937, around 1,000 Poles were executed in Odesa during the Polish Operation of the NKVD . During World War II , Odesa was attacked by Romanian and German troops in August 1941. The defense of Odesa started on 5 August 1941 and lasted for 73 days. The defense

6554-697: The community was granted autonomous status. Yiddish was used on Ukrainian currency between 1917 and 1920. Before World War II , slightly less than one-third of Ukraine's urban population consisted of Jews. In the westernmost region, Jews were mentioned for the first time in records in 1030. During the Khmelnytsky Uprising between 1648 and 1657, an army of Cossacks massacred and took large numbers of Jews, Roman Catholics , and Uniate Christians into captivity. One estimate (1996) reported that 15,000-30,000 Jews were killed or taken captive, and that 300 Jewish communities were completely destroyed. More recent estimates (2014) report mortality of 3,000-6,000 people between

6667-462: The declaration, reflecting Lenin's view that Jews did not constitute a nation. In 1918, the RSFSR Council of Ministers issued a decree entitled "On the Separation of Church from State and School from Church", depriving religious communities of the status of juridical persons, the right to own property and the right to enter into contracts. The decree nationalized the property of religious communities and banned their assessment of religious tuition. As

6780-404: The disintegration of Jewish secular life as well; Jewish cultural and educational organizations gradually disappeared. </ref> When the Soviet government reintroduced the use of internal passports in 1933, "Jewish" was considered an ethnicity for those purposes. The Soviet famine of 1932–1933 affected the Jewish population, and led to a migration from shtetls to overcrowded cities. As

6893-407: The end of the 5th and beginning of the 4th centuries BC (the first one, identified with modern Varna in Bulgaria, is the older of the two, founded c. 610 BC). The exact location of this ancient Odessos is unknown, but modern efforts have attempted to localize it 40 km northeast of Odesa, near the village of Koshary , Odesa Oblast., near the Tylihul Estuary . Odessa , the transliteration of

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7006-400: The establishment of the Voznesensk Governorate on 27 January 1795, the Vorstadt was named Tiraspol . The Flemish engineer working for the Russian Empress Catherine the Great , José de Ribas's collaborator Franz de Voland recommended the area of Khadjibey fortress as the site for the region's basic port: it had an ice-free harbor, breakwaters could be cheaply constructed that would render

7119-446: The ethnic connotations of origin. They disappeared completely by World War II . In 1905, Odesa was the site of a workers' uprising supported by the crew of the Russian battleship Potemkin and the Menshevik 's Iskra . Sergei Eisenstein 's famous motion picture The Battleship Potemkin commemorated the uprising and included a scene where hundreds of Odesan citizens were murdered on the great stone staircase (now popularly known as

7232-476: The former Russian Empire. In modern Ukraine an estimated 31,071 died in 1918–1920. During the establishment of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UPR, 1917–1921), pogroms continued. In the UPR, Yiddish was an official language, while all government posts and institutions had Jewish members. A Ministry for Jewish Affairs was established (it was the first modern state to do so). Rights of Jewish culture were guaranteed. Jewish parties abstained or voted against

7345-453: The growth in trade made Odesa Russia's largest grain-exporting port. In 1866, the city was linked by rail with Kyiv and Kharkiv as well as with Iaşi in Romania. The city became the home of a large Jewish community during the 19th century, and by 1897 Jews were estimated to comprise some 37% of the population. The community, however, was repeatedly subjected to anti-Semitism and anti-Jewish agitation from almost all Christian segments of

7458-445: The harbor safe and it would have the capacity to accommodate large fleets. The Namestnik of Yekaterinoslav and Voznesensk, Platon Zubov (one of Catherine's favorites), supported this proposal. In 1794 Catherine issued a Rescript to José de Ribas: "Considering favorable Khadjibey location... I order to establish here a navy harbor and trading pierce..." and invested the first money (26.000 rubles) in construction. Franz de Voland drew up

7571-491: The home of a large Jewish community during the 19th century, and by 1897 Jews were estimated to account for some 37% of the population. Jews were over-represented in the Russian revolutionary leadership. However, most were hostile to Jewish culture and Jewish political parties, and were loyal to the Communist Party 's atheism and proletarian internationalism , and committed to stamping out any sign of "Jewish cultural particularism". Counter-revolutionary groups, including

7684-454: The infrastructure in the 1780s. During the Russian-Turkish War of 1787–1792 , on 25 September 1789, a detachment of Russian forces , including Zaporozhian Cossacks under Alexander Suvorov and Ivan Gudovich , took Khadjibey and Yeni Dünya for the Russian Empire . One section of the troops came under command of a Spaniard in Russian service, Irishman Major General José de Ribas (known in Russia as Osip Mikhailovich Deribas); today,

7797-416: The latter two cities were situated in lowlands near marshes, which provided for poor sanitary conditions in the technology available at that time. The sleepy fishing village of Odesa had witnessed a sea-change in its fortunes when the wealthy magnate and future Voivode of Kiev (1791), Antoni Protazy Potocki , established trade routes through the port for the Polish Black Sea Trading Company and set up

7910-402: The main street in Odesa, Deribasivska Street , is named after him. Russia formally gained possession of the Sanjak of Özi (Ochakiv Oblast) as a result of the Treaty of Jassy (Iaşi) in 1792 and it became a part of Yekaterinoslav Viceroyalty . The Russian Empire took full control of Crimea, as well as land between the Southern Bug and the Dniester , including the Khadzhibey Estuary where

8023-403: The majority of Odesa's Jews emigrated to Israel , the United States and other Western countries between the 1970s and 1990s. Many ended up in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brighton Beach , sometimes known as "Little Odesa". Domestic migration of the Odesan middle and upper classes to Moscow and Leningrad , cities that offered even greater opportunities for career advancement, also occurred on

8136-510: The members of the Union of the Russian People (commonly known as the " Black Hundreds "). From 1911 to 1913, the antisemitic tenor of the period was characterized by a number of blood libel cases (accusations of Jews murdering Christians for ritual purposes). One of the most famous was the two-year trial of Menahem Mendel Beilis , who was charged with the murder of a Christian boy. The trial

8249-477: The name from Russian, was the traditional English spelling of the city's name favoured before Ukraine's independence in 1991 (similarly to the spelling of Kyiv versus Kiev). Odesa became the internationally standardized Latin-alphabet transliteration of the Ukrainian name according to the Ukrainian National romanization system , which was adopted for official use by Ukraine's cabinet in 2010, approved by

8362-465: The name was his suggestion. Some expressed doubts about this claim, while others noted the reputation of Gribovsky as an honest and modest man. Odesa is located between the ancient Greek cities of Tyras and Olbia and it was named using a Slavic feminine form for the ancient Greek city of Odessos ( Ancient Greek : Ὀδησσός ; in Roman times, Odessus). This refers to the second ancient Odessos, founded between

8475-488: The new Law on Religious Associations codified all previous religious legislation. All meetings of religious associations were required to have their agenda approved in advance; lists of members of religious associations had to be provided to the authorities. In 1930 the Yevsektsia was dissolved, leaving no central Soviet-Jewish organization. Although the body had served to undermine Jewish religious life, its dissolution led to

8588-664: The northwest province of Volhynia and spread to many other regions and continued until 1921. The actions of the Soviet government by 1927 led to a growing antisemitism. Total civilian losses in Ukraine during World War II and the German occupation are estimated at seven million. More than one million Soviet Jews, including 225,000 in Belarus , were killed by the Einsatzgruppen and their many Ukrainian supporters . Most of them were killed in Ukraine because most pre-WWII Soviet Jews lived in

8701-537: The official architects who designed buildings in Odesa's central district, such as the Italians Francesco Carlo Boffo and Giovanni Torricelli (see Italians of Odesa ), Moldovanka was included in the general city plan, though the original grid-like plan of Moldovankan streets, lanes, and squares remained unchanged. The new city quickly became a major success although initially, it received little state funding and privileges. Its early growth owed much to

8814-419: The population of Odesa increased 15 times over and reached almost 20 thousand people. The first city plan was designed by the engineer F. Devollan in the late 18th century. Colonists of various ethnicities settled mainly in the area of the former colony, outside of the official boundaries, and as a consequence, in the first third of the 19th century, Moldavanka emerged as the dominant settlement. After planning by

8927-525: The population. Pogroms were carried out in 1821, 1859, 1871, 1881 and 1905 . Many Odesan Jews fled abroad after 1882, particularly to the Ottoman region that became Palestine , and the city became an important base of support for Zionism . Until the 1870s, Odesa's Italian population grew steadily. From the following decade this growth stopped, and the decline of the Italian community in Odesa began. The reason

9040-609: The prominence of Jews such as Leon Trotsky within the Bolshevik ranks—allowed the Christian nationalist movements of both the White Army and the emergent Ukrainian National Republic to link Ukrainian Jews to the despised communism. These connections, combined with the cultural tradition of antisemitism among Russian peasantry, provided ample justification for the Whites to attack Ukraine's Jewish population. Between 1918 and 1921, almost all of

9153-759: The protests, and at least 32 trade unionists were killed after a trade union building was set on fire after Molotov cocktails exchange between sides. Polls conducted from September to December 2014 found no support for joining Russia. Odesa was struck by three bomb blasts in December 2014, one of which killed one person (the injuries sustained by the victim indicated that he had dealt with explosives). Internal Affairs Ministry advisor Zorian Shkiryak said on 25 December that Odesa and Kharkiv had become "cities which are being used to escalate tensions" in Ukraine. Shkiryak said that he suspected that these cities were singled out because of their "geographic position". On 5 January 2015

9266-526: The remaining Jewish population to extermination camps in German occupied Poland , and allowing Jews to work as hired labourers. As a result, despite the events of 1941, the survival of the Jewish population in this area was higher than in other areas of occupied eastern Europe. A Soviet medal , "For the Defence of Odesa" , was established on 22 December 1942. It was one of the first four Soviet cities to be awarded

9379-558: The same end – endowed it with a sound prosperity, and one which will yet make it one of the great cities of the Old World". In 1819, Odesa became a free port, a status it retained until 1859. Odesa became home to an extremely diverse population of Albanians, Armenians, Azeris, Bulgarians, Crimean Tatars, Frenchmen, Germans (including Mennonites), Greeks, Italians, Jews, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Turks, Ukrainians, and traders representing many other nationalities (hence numerous "ethnic" names on

9492-518: The three Kyivan city gates in the times of Yaroslav the Wise was called Zhydovski (Judaic). In Galicia , Jews were mentioned for the first time in 1030. From the second part of the 14th century, they were subjects of Polish kings and magnates . The Jewish population of Galicia and Bukovina , part of Austria-Hungary , made up 5% of the global Jewish population. From the founding of the Kingdom of Poland in

9605-476: The title of " Hero City " in 1945. (The others were Leningrad , Stalingrad , and Sevastopol ). The city suffered severe damage and sustained many casualties over the course of the war. Many parts of Odesa were damaged during both its siege and recapture on 10 April 1944 , when the city was finally liberated by the Red Army . Some of the Odesans had a more favourable view of the Romanian occupation, in contrast with

9718-678: The toll to 3,000-6,000 from 1648 to 1649; of these, 3,000-6,000 Jews were killed by Cossacks in Nemirov in May 1648 and 1,500 in Tulczyn in July 1648. The Cossack Uprising and the Deluge left a deep and lasting impression on Jewish social and spiritual life. This was a time of mysticism and overly formal rabbinism . The teachings of Israel ben Eliezer , known as the Baal Shem Tov , or BeShT , (1698–1760) had

9831-516: The town of Proskurov (now Khmelnitsky ), near the city of Sudilkov , "was the site of the worst atrocity committed against Jews this century before the Nazis." Pogroms continued until 1921. On 15 February 1919, during the Ukrainian-Soviet war, Otaman Ivan Semesenko initiated a pogrom Proskurov in which many Jews were massacred on Shabbat ( parashah Tesaveh ). Semesenko claimed that the pogrom

9944-570: The violence. The pogroms that erupted in January 1919 in the northwest province of Volhynia spread during February and March to the cities, towns, and villages of many other regions of Ukraine. After Sarny it was the turn of Ovruch , northwest of Kyiv. In Tetiev on 25 March, approximately 4,000 Jews were murdered, half in a synagogue set ablaze by Cossack troops under Colonels Kurovsky, Cherkowsy, and Shliatoshenko. Then Vashilkov (6 and 7 April). In Dubovo (17 June) 800 Jews were decapitated in assembly-line fashion. According to David A. Chapin,

10057-591: The work of the Duc de Richelieu , who served as the city's governor between 1803 and 1814. Having fled the French Revolution , he had served in Catherine's army against the Turks. He is credited with designing the city and organizing its amenities and infrastructure, and is considered one of the founding fathers of Odesa, together with another Frenchman, Count Andrault de Langeron , who succeeded him in office. Richelieu

10170-474: The years 1648–1649. During 1821 anti-Jewish riots in Odesa followed the death of the Greek Orthodox Patriarch in Constantinople , in which 14 Jews were recorded killed. Some sources claim this episode as the first pogrom . At the start of the 20th century, anti-Jewish pogroms continued, leading to large-scale emigration. In 1915, the imperial Russian government expelled thousands of Jews from

10283-461: Was Ireene Wicker ; they had a daughter: Nancy Hammer Eilan. Ukrainian Jews The history of the Jews in Ukraine dates back over a thousand years; Jewish communities have existed in the modern territory of Ukraine from the time of the Kievan Rus' (late 9th to mid-13th century). Important Jewish religious and cultural movements, from Hasidism to Zionism , arose there. According to

10396-526: Was a philanthropist. Alongside his brothers Harry and Armand, he purchased the Roosevelt estate on Campobello Island in New Brunswick and donated it to the United States and Canada as the countries' first joint park, known as Roosevelt Campobello International Park . Hammer's first wife, Barbara, was a performer of gypsy romances. In 1927, their son Armand was born. They divorced in 1928. Hammer's second wife

10509-553: Was also expected to fight the influence of Zionist and Jewish-Socialist Parties. On 27 July 1918 the Council of People's Commissars issued a decree stating that antisemitism is "fatal to the cause of the ... revolution". Pogroms were officially outlawed. On 20 October 1918 the Jewish section of the CPSU ( Yevsektsia ) was established for the Party's Jewish members; its goals were similar to those of

10622-511: Was applied to Jews in Kyiv . In 1893–1894, some areas of Crimea were removed from the Pale. When Alexander III died in Crimea on 20 October 1894, according to Simon Dubnow : "as the body of the deceased was carried by railway to St. Petersburg , the same rails were carrying the Jewish exiles from Yalta to the Pale. The reign of Alexander III began with pogroms and concluded with expulsions." Odesa became

10735-414: Was businessman Armand Hammer . He was business partner of his brother Armand on several business ventures, including Hammer Galleries in New York City, founded in 1928 as a way to funnel profits made in the Soviet Union out of that country. At one point, British Intelligence believed Hammer Galleries was a front for Soviet Intelligence . The Hammer brothers had been in contact with Soviet authorities for

10848-402: Was created in January 1925 to help recruit colonists and support the colonization work of KOMZET. For the first few years the government encouraged Jewish settlements, particularly in Ukraine. Support for the project dwindled throughout the next decade. In 1938 OZET was disbanded, following years of declining activity. The Soviets set up three Jewish national raions in Ukraine as well as two in

10961-402: Was disarmed and dissolved. This event is especially remarkable because it was used to justify Sholem Schwarzbard 's assassination of the Ukrainian leader in 1926. Although Petliura's direct involvement was never proven, Schwartzbard was acquitted in revenge. The series of Jewish pogroms around Ukraine culminated in the Kyiv pogroms of 1919 between June and October of that year. In July 1919,

11074-508: Was documented by the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin , who lived in internal exile in Odesa between 1823 and 1824. In his letters, he wrote that Odesa was a city where "the air is filled with all Europe, French is spoken and there are European papers and magazines to read". Odesa's growth was interrupted by the Crimean War of 1853–1856, during which it was bombarded by British and Imperial French naval forces. It soon recovered and

11187-485: Was excommunicated along with his numerous followers. They eventually converted to Catholicism . The traditional measures used to keep the Russian Empire free of Jews were hindered when the main territory of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was annexed during the partitions of Poland . During the second (1793) and the third (1795) partitions, large populations of Jews were absorbed by the Russian Empire, and Catherine

11300-560: Was first mentioned in 1415 in Polish chronicles by Jan Długosz , when a ship with grain sailed from there to Constantinople. By the middle of the 15th century, the settlement was depopulated. Khadjibey came under direct control of the Ottoman Empire after 1529. In the mid-18th century, the Ottomans rebuilt the fortress at Khadjibey (also known as Hocabey), which was named Yeni Dünya (literally "New World"). A series of wars between

11413-541: Was in retaliation for a previous Bolshevik uprising that he believed was led by Jews. According to the pinqasim record books those murdered in the pogrom included 390 men, 309 women and 76 children. The number of wounded exceeded 500. Two weeks later Order 131 was published in the central newspaper by the head of Directorate of Ukraine . In it Symon Petliura denounced such actions and eventually executed Otaman Semesenko by firing-squad in November 1919. Semesenko's brigade

11526-471: Was located in the area. The first census that was conducted in Odesa was in 1797 which accounted for 3,455 people. Since 1795, the city had its own city magistrate, and since 1796 a city council of six members and the Odesa Commodity Exchange. In 1801, in Odesa had opened the first commercial bank. In 1803, the city accounted for 9,000 people. In their settlement, also known as Novaya Slobodka,

11639-525: Was made at Odesa's Cinema Factory , one of the oldest cinema studios in the former Soviet Union . Following the Bolshevik Revolution in 1917 during Ukrainian-Soviet War , Odesa saw two Bolshevik armed insurgencies, the second of which succeeded in establishing their control over the city; for the following months, the city became a center of the Odesa Soviet Republic . After signing of

11752-424: Was mainly one, namely the gradual integration into the Slavic population of Odesa, i.e. Russians and Ukrainians. Surnames began to be Russianized and Ukrainianized . The revolution of 1917 sent many of them to Italy, or to other cities in Europe. In Soviet times , only a few dozen Italians remained in Odesa, most of whom no longer knew their own language. Over time they merged with the local population, losing

11865-490: Was named Odessa soon after. From 1819 to 1858, Odesa was a free port . During the Soviet period , it was an important trading port and a naval base . During the 19th century, Odesa was the fourth largest city of the Russian Empire, after Moscow , Saint Petersburg and Warsaw . Its historical architecture is more Mediterranean than Russian, having been heavily influenced by French and Italian styles. Some buildings are built in

11978-566: Was officially abolished. The removal of the restrictions on Jews' geographical mobility and educational opportunities led to a migration to the country's major cities. One week after the 25 October / 7 November 1917 Bolshevik Revolution , the new government proclaimed the "Declaration of the Rights of the Peoples [Nations] of Russia," promising all nationalities the rights of equality, self-determination and secession. Jews were not specifically mentioned in

12091-569: Was only slightly more than half of what it was in 1959. During and after the collapse of communism in the 1990s, the majority of Jews in 1989 left the country and moved abroad (mostly to Israel ). Antisemitism, including violent attacks on Jews, is still a problem in Ukraine. By the 11th century, Byzantine Jews of Constantinople had familial, cultural, and theological ties with the Jews of Kyiv . For instance, some 11th-century Jews from Kievan Rus participated in an anti- Karaite assembly held in either Thessaloniki or Constantinople. One of

12204-627: Was openly greeted by the Ukrainian Jewish Volodymyr Zhabotinsky . Between April and December 1918 the Ukrainian People's Republic was non-existent and overthrown by the Ukrainian State of Pavlo Skoropadsky who ended the experiment in Jewish autonomy. The February 1917 revolution brought a liberal Provisional Government to power in the Russian Empire. On 21 March/3 April, the government removed all "discrimination based upon ethnic religious or social grounds". The Pale

12317-604: Was ordered to establish the Dniester Border Line of fortresses. The commander of the land forces in Ochakiv Oblast was appointed Graf (Count) Suvorov-Rymnikskiy . The main fortress was built near Sucleia at the mouth of river Botna as the Head Dniester Fortress by Engineer-Major de Wollant . Near the new fortress saw the formation of a new "Vorstadt" (suburb) where people moved from Sucleia and Parkan. With

12430-445: Was organized inside the city itself. Lyudmila Pavlichenko , the famous female sniper, took part in the battle for Odesa. She recorded 187 confirmed kills during the defense of Odesa. Pavlichenko's confirmed kills during World War II totaled 309 (including 36 enemy snipers). The city fell to the Axis on 16 October 1941, and it was henceforth subject to Romanian administration. By that time,

12543-402: Was organized on three lines with emplacements consisting of trenches, anti-tank ditches and pillboxes. The first line was 80 kilometres (50 miles) long and situated some 25 to 30 kilometres (16 to 19 miles) from the city. The second and main line of defense was situated 6 to 8 kilometres (3.7 to 5.0 miles) from the city and was about 30 kilometres (19 miles) long. The third and last line of defense

12656-482: Was removed from the project, and José de Ribas was implicated in a plot to assassinate the Emperor. After Paul's assassination in 1801, the city resumed construction, and used a plan largely from de Voland's work. It was thus one of the few master planned cities in the Russian Empire. In 1795, Khadjibey was officially renamed with the feminine name " Одесса ( Odessa )" after a Greek colony of Odessos that supposedly

12769-411: Was showcased by the authorities to illustrate the perfidy of the Jewish population. From March to May 1915, in the face of the German army, the government expelled thousands of Jews from the Empire's border areas, mainly the Pale of Settlement. During the 1917 Russian Revolution and the ensuing Russian Civil War , an estimated 70,000 to 250,000 Jewish civilians were killed in atrocities throughout

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