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(For
English tours, See tourist guides page, for excursions to
the Catacombs)
The village
of Nerubaiskoye
The Catacomb
Museum is located just outside the city in the village of
Nerubaiskoye, thirty minutes by bus or car. Nerubaiskoye
was founded at the end of the 18the century as a reward
for the Cossacks who took part in storming the Turkish Fortress
Yeni-Dunya (New World) during the 1787-1791 Russian-Turkish
war.
Catacomb entrance
Nerubaiskoye
village is split by a deep gully. In one of these gullies
is the entrance to the catacombs.
Over the main
entrance to the catacomb is this inscription:
"It was here in the catacombs of the Nerubaiskoye village
that the partisans commanded by the Hero of the Soviet UnionV.A.
Molodtsov-Badayev had its underground base. They successfully
operated behind enemy lines."
There are natural
caves in the shell stone, but they are rare. Ancient animal
bones have been found in the catacombs.
Catacomb museum
In 1965 the Odessa
government had a group of Young Communist League members
study the catacombs, focusing on the Soviet Revolution and
World War Two and how the catacombs played a part in both
of these wars. These children found many documents about
these two periods and the museum was opened with these documents
on May 9th, 1969.
The museum is
separated into three sections:
The first section of the museum covers the revolutionary
war. In the early 1800's revolutionaries had meetings and
stored illegal Marxist literature from abroad in the catacombs.
The second section
covers the 73-day defense of Odessa from Nazi invaders.
During the bombing, the Odessites used the catacombs as
bomb shelters.
The third section
covers the Nazi occupation of Odessa. The exhibits have
weapons, radio receivers, forged passports, and propaganda
material.
One of the sections
discusses Vladimir Molodtsov. Molodtsov was sent from Mosow
in 1941 to collect information about the Nazis. Molodtsov
organized a group of seventy people, half which stayed in
the catacombs, and the other half which were spies in Odessa.
The museums has pictures of Yakov Gordienko (see
children's palace), one of the group.
Yakov informed
the resistance about the timetable of a train carrying high
ranking nazi officials. The resistance then derailed the
train.
Yakov also informed
the resistance of a creation of a large fuel dump and found
out the time and the route of a planned march of the Nazis
to Nikolaev. Because of this information, Soviet fighter
planes carried out an effective surprise raid.
The Nazi occupiers
tried everything to destroy Molodtsov's group. They mined
and sealed the entrances of the catacombs, and even tried
to use poison gas. All of these attempts failed.
Acting on information
from a traitor, in February and March 1942 the Nazis captured
most of Yakov's detachment. After months of torture and
interrogation, in June Yakov was shot and killed. The remainder
of the group eventually joined up with another partisan
group and continued to fight.
Molodtsov and
Yakov Gordienko are buried in the Alley
of Glory
A spiral staircase
leads from the museum down to the catacombs. This is the
same entrance that the partisans often used. The main base
that Molodtsov used are actually several kilometers away.
The people's
avengers monument
Overlooking the museum and the catacombs is a large 12-meter
(39 feet) sculpture called "The people's avengers".
The six figures in the group represent the soviets that
joined the partisans:
- A sailor,
- An industrial
worker,
- An old man,
- A teenager,
- A Young Communist
League member, and
- A woman
The inscription
reads:
"
The dark of the catacombs
and the Odessa black nights
You illuminate by your hearts
To the glory of Victory
You gave of yourselves"
Inside the
catacombs
The first thing
that strikes a person in the catacombs is the absolute complete
darkness. The temperature in these caves remains almost
the same in these caves throughout the year.
The pictures
drawn by partisans have been relocated from other parts
of the catacombs.
The partisan
items you see in these caves are almost all recreations
of the original. Inside the catacombs you will see sleeping
quarters, shooting galleries, headquarters, kitchen, and
a well. The sentry point, the barricade, the well, the classroom,
and the guardroom are authentic and were used by Molodtsov's
partisans.
The sentry point
and barricade, with a large machinegun guarding the entrance,
was used by the partisans to stop the Nazis. Near the sentry
post is a picture of the partisans and a sculpture of a
grieving mother. An eternal flame burns from a hand carved
from stone.
Children used
the classroom during the 73-day siege. The children worked
by kerosene light, and the chairs and desks were made of
the shell stone.
Below photos by Yubert at virtualtourist.com
Click the
below thumbnails for larger photos:
Below photo of the Underground kitchen by Galen
Frysinger
from www.galenfrysinger.com/odessa_ukrania.htm
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