Post-Russian Revolution Period (1917-1941)

• Limestone mining ended under Odessa city after 1917 Russian Revolution
• Soviet Union prioritized new industries: metalworking, machine building
• Catacombs abandoned to criminal underbelly
  • Criminals used tunnels for hiding: smugglers, thieves, pickpockets
  • Stored contraband: guns, money
  • Evaded police detection

World War II Nazi Occupation (1941-1944)

• Operation Barbarossa: Hitler's 1941 invasion plan targeting Soviet Union
• Odessa siege: 4 months, fell to German/Romanian forces October 1941
• Casualties: 82,000 Odessa citizens killed, 78,000 taken as slave labor
• Partisan resistance movement established tunnel base operations
  • 45 resistance groups totaling 6,000 fighters
  • Left graffiti, posters calling for property reclamation from fascists
• Axis retaliation: sealed hundreds tunnel exits to trap partisans
• Tragic incident: 13 men trapped group
  • All exits blocked, couldn't escape
  • Months underground in darkness drove partisans mad
  • Killed each other, all died except one survivor
• Alexander Glushchenko survival story
  • Spent 1 year alone underground after group died
  • Escaped to nearby home, wife hid him in house catacombs 1 additional year
  • Total: 3+ years underground, remained sane
  • Post-war Soviet suppression: shot dead by Soviet army after liberation
  • Soviets removed all partisan traces, ammunition from tunnels

Post-War Cleanup (1944)

• Military engineers cleared booby traps, defused bombs
• Left safety messages: "checked no mines" dated April 14, 1944
• Ensured tunnel safety for future use

Cold War Nuclear Shelters (1950s-1980s)

• Built 80 anti-nuclear bomb shelters in Odessa during Cold War
• Utilized existing catacomb space, added fortification
• Engineering challenges: natural rock layers riddled with cracks
• Innovative pressurization solution
  • Air pump system created positive overpressure inside shelters
  • Same system used in submarines, planes
  • Prevented outside contamination penetration
• Infrastructure requirements
  • Designed for 5,000+ people capacity
  • Huge engines lowered down vertical shafts, then sealed
  • Essential air filtration/ventilation systems
  • Water supply siphoned from deep catacombs
  • Water tanks with regular replacement schedule
  • Problem: high calcium concentration, not recommended for long-term drinking
• Ukraine never attacked during Cold War, shelters unused
• Late 1980s: military withdrew, bunkers abandoned, contents looted for scrap

Modern Day Challenges and Uses

• 1,550 miles of tunnels with storied history
• Impossible to monitor full expanse
• Annual missing persons: at least 1 person/year gets lost
• Rescue difficulties: rock absorbs sound, can't hear screams 10 meters away
• Amateur subterranean explorers assist rescue teams
• Commercial use: Shustov cognac factory
  • 2013: opened museum in small catacomb portion
  • Commemorates 150 years maturing cognac underground
• Local belief: tunnels possess special qualities