1941 Odessa massacre

Coordinates: 46°27′58″N 30°43′59″E / 46.466°N 30.733°E / 46.466; 30.733

The Odessa massacre is the name given to the mass murder of Jewish and Romani population of Odessa and surrounding towns in Transnistria (now in Ukraine) during the autumn of 1941 and winter of 1942 while under Romanian control.

Depending on the accepted terms of reference and scope, the Odessa massacre refers either to the events of October 22–24, 1941 in which some 25,000 to 34,000 Jews were shot or burned, or to the murder of well over 100,000 Ukrainian Jews in the town and the areas between the Dniester and Bug rivers, during the Romanian and German occupation. In the same days, Germans and Romanians killed about 15,000 Romani people.

Before the massacre

Odessa had a large Jewish population of approximately 180,000, or 30% of the city's total population, before the war. By the time the Romanians had taken the city, between 80,000 and 90,000 Jews remained, the rest having fled or had been evacuated by the Soviets. As the massacres occurred, Jews from surrounding villages would be concentrated in Odessa and Romanian concentration camps set up in the surrounding areas.

2014 Odessa clashes

Clashes between Euromaidan and anti-Maidan demonstrators erupted in the southern Ukrainian port city of Odessa during January 2014, during the lead-up to the late February revolution. Many people in southern and eastern Ukraine opposed the revolution. Odessa, largely Russophone, witnessed continued unrest throughout 2014. The worst incident occurred on 2 May, when forty-six pro-Russian anti-Maidan protesters were killed and over 200 people were injured during a confrontation with pro-Ukrainian unity protesters at the Trade Unions House in central Odessa.

Unrest begins

Up to 2,000 Euromaidan protesters marched on the regional state administration (RSA) building in Odessa on 26 January, but were repelled by pro-government supporters and municipal barricades. Odessa municipal administration fortified the RSA with concrete blocks to prevent further incursions on 28 January. Confrontations between Euromaidan and Anti-Madian protesters continued over the next month, and on 20 February, about 100 unidentified men wearing masks and helmets, and armed with baseball bats, assaulted a pro-Maidan demonstration. Three journalists and two cameramen were injured in the clashes.

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa (Ukrainian: Оде́са, [oˈdɛsɐ]; Russian: Оде́сса; IPA: [ɐˈdʲesə]) is a city in Ukraine and a major seaport and transportation hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. Odessa is also an administrative center of the Odessa Oblast and a multiethnic major cultural center. Odessa is the third biggest city in Ukraine and known in Ukraine as Black Sea Pearl or Southern Palmyra.

The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement, was founded by Hacı I Giray, the Khan of Crimea, in 1440 and originally named after him as "Hacıbey". After a period of Lithuanian control, it passed into the domain of the Ottoman Sultan in 1529 and remained in Ottoman hands until the Ottoman Empire's defeat in the Russo-Turkish War of 1792.

In 1794, the city of Odessa was founded by a decree of the Empress Catherine the Great. From 1819 to 1858, Odessa was a free port. During the Soviet period it was the most important port of trade in the Soviet Union and a Soviet naval base. On 1 January 2000, the Quarantine Pier at Odessa Commercial Sea Port was declared a free port and free economic zone for a period of 25 years.

Odessa (yacht)

Odessa (Ukrainian: Одеса 200) is a Volvo Ocean 60 yacht. She finished tenth in the W60 class of the 1993–94 Whitbread Round the World Race skippered by Anatoly Verba.

References

Odessa, Texas

Odessa /ˌoʊˈdɛsə/ is a city in and the county seat of Ector County, Texas, United States. It is located primarily in Ector County, although a small portion of the city extends into Midland County. Odessa's population was 99,940 at the 2010 census making it the 29th-most populous city in Texas. It is the principal city of the Odessa Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Ector County. The metropolitan area is also a component of the larger Midland–Odessa combined statistical area, which had a 2010 census population of 278,801.

In 2014, Forbes magazine ranked Odessa as the third fastest-growing small city in the United States.

Etymology

Odessa is said to have been named after Odessa, Ukraine, because of the local shortgrass prairie's resemblance to Ukraine's steppe landscape.

History

Odessa was founded in 1881 as a water stop and cattle-shipping point on the Texas and Pacific Railway. The first post office opened in 1885. Odessa became the county seat of Ector County in 1891 when the county was first organized. It was incorporated as a city in 1927, after oil was discovered in Ector County on the Connell Ranch southwest of Odessa.