Week of July 11-17, 2016
Welcome to the Odessa Catacombs! We were headed out to de-register from the city of Odessa and found out a bunch of missionaries were going to see the catacombs. We're in!
We'd had heard a lot about them but hadn't researched where to find them.
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We payed extra to have an English tour. The only English we
heard the guild say was you need to practice your Russian.
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Turns out, there are over 1500 miles (2500 kilometers) of tunnels winding around under the city. The largest system in the world! The first tunnels date back to the 1600's but most of them were created in the 1800's. As Odessa grew most of the homes were built of limestone blocks mined from underneath the city. Towards the end of the century mining became such a nuisance that they shut it down in center Odessa. (Now, when something goes wrong with your house, you blame it on the catacombs)
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Amazing architecture was created with the stone mined
from underneath the city. The stone is very porous and disintegrates
if exposed to the weather so everything here has a plaster finish on it. |
It seems the tunnels are kind of a jumble. Some say since there is already a system of tunnels, there should be a subway system. Others say because of the tunnels, there can not be a subway system. Here is an example,
"In September 1995, in honor of the 200th anniversary of Odessa, the record for the longest underground journey in the catacombs was broken by a 27-hour continuos journey of over 40 kilometers. (Had they walked in a straight line the journey would only have been 9.5 kilometers.) Shortly after this the mapping of a huge unexplored area of the catacombs known as "K-29" was begun."
During WWII the catacombs became the home of rebel soldiers and their families. They built churches, schools, radio rooms, hospitals, whatever they needed for the 1 1/2- 2 years they lived there.
"Hiding in the catacombs for as much as 13 months, literally below the noses and feet of the Nazis above, they waited for a chance to strike or relay information. The men (and women; the rebel groups usually contained a least a few women) would play chess, checkers, cook, and listen to Soviet Radio, generally trying to make a normal life below the surface of the city. They tried to ignore the malnutrition and malaria which afflicted many of them. Many of the partisan groups lived in the catacombs for the entirety of the rest of the war and on occasion the partisan groups even managed to blow up German facilities. The Fascist Germans and Romanians meanwhile chose random catacomb exits and sealed them, hoping to trap the men below the city forever, and occasionally tossed poison gas canisters into the catacombs hoping to smoke the soviet rebels out.
Once the war was over the catacombs became home to numerous smuggling and criminal groups, who widened and created new tunnel systems of their own."
"Today there is an entire Ukrainian subculture of catacomb explorers with dozens of semiprofessional groups, often quite competitive, exploring the catacombs. They go on multi-day underground treks, known as expeditions, to document and map the system. Should someone get lost in the catacombs, (as happens every couple of years) these groups put aside their differences and mount large search expeditions. They have rescued a number of children who have wandered into the catacombs."
"Partisan weapon caches such as rifles and grenades are occasionally still found within the tunnels, and about once every five years a body is found. On rare occasions these bodies are almost perfectly mummified, freeze dried by the cold, dry air of the tunnels. While most of the time the bodies found are from long ago, bones of soldiers and smugglers, more recent accidents have been known to happen."
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| Most of these are self explanatory. A kitchen |
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| A queen size bed! |
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| Radio room |
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| Target practice |
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| Laundry |
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This is looking down into a freshwater well. They actually had
everything they needed |
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| The church |
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| School |
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As you came out of the tunnels there was a museum
with artifacts from the catacombs as well as
Partisan war memorabilia. |
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| Outside the museum |
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| Ready-fire-Aim? of something like that |
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| One of our military men checking out the machinery |
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This is how the buses look most days. This one
was not too bad. |
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| Such fun young men! |
So interesting!
The rest of our week is kind of a blur. Lots of shopping, preparations, just busy stuff. Here's a little of what went on
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On transfer day they decided to have a quick good-by/
birthday lunch. They brought and fixed it all! |
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| This is how a 19 year old makes a hamburger! |
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| and this is how it is consumed! |
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One Elder got a boxed cake mix from home and shared it with
these two. That, actually, is quite a sacrifice.
Especially when you were looking forward to eating that
whole container of frosting yourself! |
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Authors, poets, artists... are all highly revered. The one on the
left is Исаак Бабель (Isaac Babel) |
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| Early morning cranes at work at the port |
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Half the town is shut down for a few days for the International
Film Festival. This Screen is set up at the bottom of the stairs.
Plenty of seating! 150 available steps seating maybe 20 each. |
Another good week! Emotions still pull strong at the old heartstrings though. It was hard to say good-bye to my sweet mother. Our boys made it possible for us to attend the funeral. They held up their phones throughout it all and we are so grateful. As we watch her generation leave this earth all over the world we realize the importance of the legacy they leave behind. Not only is it important for us to study history, we need to study our own history, to learn from our loved ones, through their stories and examples, the lessons we must not forget if we are to successfully maneuver through these last days (kind of like getting around in those catacombs). I still have so much to learn from my mother. She was always faithful, always working, always learning something new, always focused on the needs of everyone else, always teaching what was right and good, always willing and able, always respectful and polite, and always positive. I don't think I ever heard her say anything bad about another person.
Actually, the best description of my mother is Moroni 7:40-48. (You need to read it all. I will only put part)
" 45 And charity suffereth long, and is kind, and envieth not, and is not puffed up, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil, and rejoiceth not in iniquity but rejoiceth in the truth, beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
46 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, if ye have not charity, ye are nothing, for charity never faileth. Wherefore, cleave unto charity, which is the greatest of all, for all things must fail—
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.
48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."
(https://www.lds.org/scriptures/bofm/moro/7?lang=eng also
https://www.lds.org/scriptures/nt/2-pet/1.5?lang=eng#4)
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| Love you, Mom! |
Hope you have a great week,
Love the Mik's
118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith. D&C 88:118
23 Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. D&C 19:23
88 And whoso receiveth you, there I will be also, for I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up. D&C 84:88
