The shadow of Sonya the Golden Hand and the ghosts of sailors from the battleship are walking along the streets of Odessa
House of Mishka Yaponchik. The legendary bandit walks the streets of Odessa not far from his house, photo by A. Lesik
Ufologists believe that ghosts are common in Odessa. Especially in the historic center. They say that it is here that visions can appear in almost every house of pre-revolutionary buildings. But besides this, experts say that ghosts can also live in modern high-rise buildings, in cottages, especially if the buildings are built on the site of cemeteries or any other burials.
As Ufologist Igor Podorozhniy told Segodnya, there is a certain type of ghosts that appear in the same places where they lived during their lifetime. “Individuals with strong biofields and energetics can, during their lifetime, deposit a magnetic trace on any object, for example, by looking at it. This "mark" is quite durable and even after the death of a person, his ghost can appear in the same place where the magnetic trail was left, "the ufologist notes.
ENCHANTED REAL ESTATE
Soviet prisoners of war were burnt alive in the barracks near Tolbukhin Square in the fall of 1941. After the war, private houses were built here. This area is connected with almost the only case in the history of the city, when the owner of a land plot refused her own housing and turned to the mayor's office with a request to take the house into communal ownership, they say, she was annoyed by ghosts …
An abandoned five-story building at the corner of Krasnova Street and Admiralsky Avenue is considered haunted. According to legend, this house was built on the site of a prison cemetery, and now the souls of rapists and murderers cannot find peace. “Over the past 7 years, 9 corpses have been found in this house, we very much hope that it will be demolished soon,” says Nadezhda, a resident of a nearby hostel. "In addition, this house simply does not exist on the official city map."
“My grandmother lived ten post-war years in Vorontsovsky Lane, in a 'house with one wall' and cannot remember anything otherworldly. But her friend lives opposite, so she and her neighbors all the time tell some passions, as if the ghost of a woman walks around the apartment at night. She is sad all the time, she can feed the fish in the aquarium or fix the blanket, and then she disappears,”says student Andrey.
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LEGENDS ABOUT THE GREEN HOUSE IN USATOVO
The most popular haunted house is located in the village of Usatovo. There is a legend that this house was built by an old sailor, and he was so devoted to his home that he bequeathed it to be buried right there. After the death of the owner, they were allegedly walled up in the foundation, and now wolf crying is heard in the house at night. They also say that the guillotine used to be in that place.
But the most common version, told by the neighbors of the notorious house, is as follows: once on this site there was an old clay hut, an old woman lived in it, and a witch. When she died, none of her relatives showed up and at night her corpse was buried right on the site, later the son of the deceased returned from abroad, who was told that her mother was buried in the village cemetery. The son decided to build a house here. The builders, laying the foundation, found the "grave", but the owner was not told anything. Moreover, there was not enough brick to build a house, and the workers borrowed it, dismantling the wall of a neighboring cemetery. They finished building the house, but the new owner could not live there … The former owner of the house himself claimed to Segodnya that nothing of the kind could have happened. “I myself have heard many different stories about my own home,” laughs Nikolai.- But this is the most ordinary house. It was built by my grandfather, but recently we sold it. " According to Nikolai, the building was really empty for many years, when asked: "Why?" the man replied, "They just didn't want to sell."
ON COFFEE WITH A JAPANESE BEAR
it is read that ghosts have settled in Shevchenko Park long ago. Once upon a time Zhukovsky, Gogol, Ostrovsky, Dostoevsky, Chekhov, Akhmatova, and also the famous criminal Sonya Zolotaya Ruchka walked here. It was rumored that she was a hostage in a Turkish harem, and in 1918 she persuaded the French admiral to withdraw the squadron from Odessa and allegedly created a thieves' school in London. So, Sonya strolls in Shevchenko Park to this day, often residents of nearby houses notice a sullen woman dressed in outfits of the 19th century. Lowering her head, she walks along the alley towards the port. It was here that a talented thief was allegedly led a little less than a century ago through the park to the harbor, from where they were sent to be executed on Sakhalin.
The ghost of Sonya is playing pranks in other places. For example, there is a legend among taxi drivers that once a mysterious woman dressed in the old fashion got into the car. “The stranger gave the address, and when the car drove up and it was time to pay, she took out a small jewel from under her nail, gave it to the driver, got out and hurried away,” says Valery Saraula, an expert on ghostly places. - Later it turned out that Sonya the Golden Hand had the habit of hiding jewelry under her nails. By the way, having seen the portrait of the legendary criminal, the same taxi driver could not come to his senses for a long time, the similarity was obvious."
Another ghost found in Odessa is the shadow of the crime boss and the red commander Moisey Vinnitsky. The prototype of the literary character Benny Krik from Isaac Babel's "Odessa Tales", the king of the underworld Mishka Yaponchik was born in 1891 in Moldavanka, in the courtyard at Tikhaya Street, 9. And although the hero died far from Odessa, local residents still see the ghost of Yaponchik and they recognize him by his characteristic appearance and striped suit. Most often, the vision walks around in the vicinity of Tikhaya Street. An employee of one of the bars, who lives nearby, almost made an appointment with the late thief. “I remember that at night, when I was returning home from work, I noticed a handsome young man, only he was dressed in a strange way,” says the administrator of the cafe Natalya. - He turned to me and offered to drink a cup of coffee,however, I hurried home and refused, but as soon as I walked a few meters and looked back, he disappeared."
CLOWN PENCIL AND Sailors from the POTEMKIN ARMOR
Once on the embankment in Arcadia, the bartender of one of the nightclubs met a ghost of a sailor. After midnight, a man caught up with the guy. “He asked for fire, and when I lowered my eyes, I saw that he was in a sailor's uniform, his jacket and trousers were torn. Water flowed from him, and when I looked higher, I saw that in the light of the moon his face was completely transparent. Through it one could see the embankment and the sea. Suddenly a firecracker exploded, the sailor smiled and disappeared,”says Andrey. Among ufologists there is an opinion that the spirits of several sailors from the personnel of the battleship Potemkin, whose bodies have not been found, can indeed visit the living.
Ufologist Igor Podorozhniy said that in the late 1980s the scientists were summoned to the Moskovskaya Hotel. The newlyweds settled in one of the rooms, and it so happened that the husband saw a ghost. “We were called late in the evening,” the specialist recalls. - The groom then was on the verge of a nervous breakdown and said that when he returned from the store, his wife was standing on the balcony, and in a wedding dress. He asked her to come in, they say, it was cold outside, it blew through, and as soon as the woman approached the curtain, he realized that in front of him was a completely unfamiliar person. When a real wife came out of the shower and asked who her husband was talking to, he simply fainted."
You can also meet a ghost in the building of the Odessa circus. The well-known Odessa comedian Vladimir Komarov claims that it was in the corridors of the circus that he saw the ghosts of the deceased stars of the arena, but more often than others he was the clown Pencil, known in the postwar years - under such a stage name was the Soviet clown Mikhail Rumyantsev.
Always in the spotlight are the ruins of a house behind the Tairovsky cemetery. “On weekends, young people come here, the guys wander around the house and look for the promised ghosts,” says a shop assistant in a nearby store. The two-story building has survived several fires. They say that sometimes a mysterious light is seen here, rustles and voices are heard.