Mishka Yaponchik
Encyclopedia
Mishka Yaponchik was a Odessa gangster, Jewish revolutionary, and Soviet
military leader.
Golta (today is part of Pervomaisk
), Mishka was around 4 years of age, Vinnitsky's family moved to Odessa (Moldavanka
). Other records state that he was born to a family of a sea-port serviceman (bindyuzhnik) at the 23 Hospital Street (today Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street) in Odessa (Moldavanka
). His mother Doba Zelmanovna has born five sons and a daughter. Upon his birth he received a double name, Moisei-Yakov (Moses-Jacob), as his father. Because of his double name which is an uncommon case in the Russian culture, his second name sometimes being recorded as the paternal name - Moisei Yakovlevich. Sometime in 1897 Mishka lost his father when he was 6. At first he worked at a mattress factory as a trainee, while attending the Jewish school (presumably heder). Later as an electrician received a job at "Anatra" factory. At the time of the Jewish pogrom
s in October 1905 Vinnitskiy participated in the Jewish self-defense. Later he joined the organization of anarchists-communists
Molodaia Volya (Young Will). It was probably during that time he received his famous street name, presumably for the type of his eyes. Another version suggests that he was recognized by this name after he narrated a story to his Odessa's friends about a Japanese gang from Nagasaki
that he heard from one Portuguese sailor. In the story he described the Japanese who set up the rules of their "business" and never trespass them. Yaponchik offered his buddies to follow this example as well.
In 1907 he was given a death sentence by hanging for assassination of the chief of Mikhailov police precinct in Odessa
V.Kozhukhar, which later was replaced with the 12 years of a hard labor (katorga
). According to a story he made up a special box for boot cleaning where he placed explosives. Usually sitting on the corner of Dalnytska Street and Steep Street he was offering to by-passers the boot cleaning services by which he also was pissing of the chief of the before mentioned precinct. One day however being a little drunk the officer placed his boot on the cleaning box. Mishka after cleaning his boots turned the explosives on and managed to run away leaving his client to face his ultimate end. While serving the detention time, in jail he met with Grigoriy Kotovskiy.
forces (French, Greeks, and British) in 1919 he cooperated with the Bolshevik
underground (including Kotovskiy). Yaponchik was also well acquainted with Lazar Weissbein (Leonid Utyosov
) who later became one of the most popular singers in the Soviet Union
and vouched for Yaponchik as a humane gangster (avoided killings, sponsored local artists). Once to prevent his banditism he was arrested by the counter-intelligence service (chief - General Shilling) of the Denikin's Volunteer Army
. After about half an hour to his place of detention arrived a cavalcade
of phaeton
s and horse driven cabs (prolyotkas) with numerous gangsters holding grenades. Upon request to release Yaponchik the last one exited the building in less than 15 minutes.
Yaponchik is known for his aphorism
s such as "Don't shoot in the air - don't leave witnesses", "The most short tongue has the dead", "The dead won't sell off".
After Odessa was taken by the Red Army
, some evidences suggest him being in charge of an armored train to defeat the mutinied otaman Grigoriev.
. The Red-Armymen of Yaponchik did not have a uniform, which was not uncommon in many military formations that were drafted by Bolsheviks. Many of them wore boater
s and top hat
s, however almost everyone considered to be honorary to wear what is known as telnyashka
(a sailor's shirt).
The regiment was reassigned to Kotovskiy's Brigade under the command of the 45th division led by a Bessarabian Jewish Iona Yakir
. In July 1919 Yaponchik's forces were engaged in fight against the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic
that often being exclusively associated with Symon Petliura, the Ukrainian national leader who led Ukraine's struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Yaponchik's men rendezvous with Ukrainians near the town of Birzula (today's Kotovsk) where they were so successful that managed to take the town of Vapnyarka
in Podolie
(near Vinnytsia
, dozens of miles away) securing several military prisoners and trophies. However, after the followed counter-attack the regiment fled and many soldiers deserted it. What happened afterward is covered in mystery. There are some suggestions that the regiment mutinied and after securing couple of trains tried to return to Odessa. Another version of the story tells that the higher command tried to isolate Yaponchik from the rest of his troops and ordered him to head towards Kiev
. Yaponchik, however, with a company
-size security did not go to Kiev, but rather turned towards Odessa. He was ambushed by Cheka
about mile away from the town of Voznesensk
and was killed in a clay quarry during the arrest by an uyezd
military commissar Nikifor Ursulov on July 29, 1919 at eight o'clock in the morning. His body was covered by sand. Later by the order #296 of the 12th Army
Nikifor Ursulov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner
.
in his Odessa Tales. The traces of his personality can also be found in the artistic works of Alexander Rozenbaum.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
military leader.
Early years
Born as Moisei Wolfovich Vinnitskiy to family of a Jewish wagon-builder Meer-Wolf Mordkoich Vinnitskiy by some records in stanitsaStanitsa
Stanitsa is a village inside a Cossack host . Stanitsas were the primary unit of Cossack hosts.Historically, the stanitsa was a unit of economic and political organisation of the Cossack peoples primarily in the southern regions of the Russian Empire.Much of the land was held in common by the...
Golta (today is part of Pervomaisk
Pervomaisk, Mykolaiv Oblast
Pervomaisk is a city in Mykolaiv Oblast, Ukraine and the center of the Pervomaiskyi Raion. It is located on the Southern Bug river which bisects the city...
), Mishka was around 4 years of age, Vinnitsky's family moved to Odessa (Moldavanka
Moldavanka
Moldavanka is a historical part of Odessa in the Odessa Oblast of southern Ukraine, located jointly on Malinovskiy and Primorskiy city districts. Before 1820 a settlement just outside of Odessa which later engulfed it...
). Other records state that he was born to a family of a sea-port serviceman (bindyuzhnik) at the 23 Hospital Street (today Bohdan Khmelnytsky Street) in Odessa (Moldavanka
Moldavanka
Moldavanka is a historical part of Odessa in the Odessa Oblast of southern Ukraine, located jointly on Malinovskiy and Primorskiy city districts. Before 1820 a settlement just outside of Odessa which later engulfed it...
). His mother Doba Zelmanovna has born five sons and a daughter. Upon his birth he received a double name, Moisei-Yakov (Moses-Jacob), as his father. Because of his double name which is an uncommon case in the Russian culture, his second name sometimes being recorded as the paternal name - Moisei Yakovlevich. Sometime in 1897 Mishka lost his father when he was 6. At first he worked at a mattress factory as a trainee, while attending the Jewish school (presumably heder). Later as an electrician received a job at "Anatra" factory. At the time of the Jewish pogrom
Pogrom
A pogrom is a form of violent riot, a mob attack directed against a minority group, and characterized by killings and destruction of their homes and properties, businesses, and religious centres...
s in October 1905 Vinnitskiy participated in the Jewish self-defense. Later he joined the organization of anarchists-communists
Anarchist communism
Anarchist communism is a theory of anarchism which advocates the abolition of the state, markets, money, private property, and capitalism in favor of common ownership of the means of production, direct democracy and a horizontal network of voluntary associations and workers' councils with...
Molodaia Volya (Young Will). It was probably during that time he received his famous street name, presumably for the type of his eyes. Another version suggests that he was recognized by this name after he narrated a story to his Odessa's friends about a Japanese gang from Nagasaki
Nagasaki
is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Nagasaki was founded by the Portuguese in the second half of the 16th century on the site of a small fishing village, formerly part of Nishisonogi District...
that he heard from one Portuguese sailor. In the story he described the Japanese who set up the rules of their "business" and never trespass them. Yaponchik offered his buddies to follow this example as well.
In 1907 he was given a death sentence by hanging for assassination of the chief of Mikhailov police precinct in Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
V.Kozhukhar, which later was replaced with the 12 years of a hard labor (katorga
Katorga
Katorga was a system of penal servitude of the prison farm type in Tsarist Russia...
). According to a story he made up a special box for boot cleaning where he placed explosives. Usually sitting on the corner of Dalnytska Street and Steep Street he was offering to by-passers the boot cleaning services by which he also was pissing of the chief of the before mentioned precinct. One day however being a little drunk the officer placed his boot on the cleaning box. Mishka after cleaning his boots turned the explosives on and managed to run away leaving his client to face his ultimate end. While serving the detention time, in jail he met with Grigoriy Kotovskiy.
Revolution
During the amnesty issued by the Russian Provisional Government in 1917 Yaponchik returned to the hometown (Odessa) where he organized his gang which to the extent of nearly took control of the city. During the evacuation from the city of the last retrieving Austrian and German forces on December 12, 1918 Yaponchik made a successful raid on the city jail freeing numerous detainees. During the occupation of Odessa by the EntenteAllies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
forces (French, Greeks, and British) in 1919 he cooperated with the Bolshevik
Bolshevik
The Bolsheviks, originally also Bolshevists , derived from bol'shinstvo, "majority") were a faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party which split apart from the Menshevik faction at the Second Party Congress in 1903....
underground (including Kotovskiy). Yaponchik was also well acquainted with Lazar Weissbein (Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Utyosov
Leonid Osipovich Utyosov or Utesov ; real name Lazar Vaysbeyn or Weissbein , was a famous Soviet jazz singer and comic actor of jewish origin, who became the first pop singer to be awarded the prestigious title of People's Artist of the USSR .-Biography:Leonid Utyosov was brought up in Odessa...
) who later became one of the most popular singers in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
and vouched for Yaponchik as a humane gangster (avoided killings, sponsored local artists). Once to prevent his banditism he was arrested by the counter-intelligence service (chief - General Shilling) of the Denikin's Volunteer Army
Volunteer Army
The Volunteer Army was an anti-Bolshevik army in South Russia during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1920....
. After about half an hour to his place of detention arrived a cavalcade
Cavalcade
Cavalcade may refer to:*Cavalcade, a horseback procession, parade, or mass trail ride*A huge parade*A huge procession*Suzuki GV1400 Cavalcade, a Suzuki luxury touring motorcycle available from 1985 to 1988 in North America...
of phaeton
Phaeton (carriage)
Phaeton is the early 19th-century term for a sporty open carriage drawn by a single horse or a pair, typically with four extravagantly large wheels, very lightly sprung, with a minimal body, fast and dangerous. It usually had no sidepieces in front of the seats...
s and horse driven cabs (prolyotkas) with numerous gangsters holding grenades. Upon request to release Yaponchik the last one exited the building in less than 15 minutes.
Yaponchik is known for his aphorism
Aphorism
An aphorism is an original thought, spoken or written in a laconic and memorable form.The term was first used in the Aphorisms of Hippocrates...
s such as "Don't shoot in the air - don't leave witnesses", "The most short tongue has the dead", "The dead won't sell off".
After Odessa was taken by the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
, some evidences suggest him being in charge of an armored train to defeat the mutinied otaman Grigoriev.
54th Soviet Regiment
In May 1919 he was allowed to form his own military unit for the Soviet forces that fell under the command of the 3rd Ukrainian Army (Soviet forces). The unit was later reformed into the 54th Lenin's Soviet Revolutionary Regiment. Yaponchik's assistant (adjutant) was Meer Zaider, nicknamed Maiorik (as diminutive of Major), who later shot Kotovskiy in 1925 (see Grigoriy Kotovskiy). The regiment consisted of the Odessa's former convicts, anarchist militia, and the newly mobilized students of the Novorossiya UniversityOdessa University
The I. I. Mechnikov Odessa National University , located in Odessa, Ukraine, is one of the country's major universities. It was founded in 1865, by an edict of Czar Alexander II of Russia, reorganizing the Richelieu Lyceum of Odessa into the new Imperial Novorossiya University. In the Soviet...
. The Red-Armymen of Yaponchik did not have a uniform, which was not uncommon in many military formations that were drafted by Bolsheviks. Many of them wore boater
Boater
Boater may refer to:*Boater, a type of hat*Boater, one of the first disposable diapers*Someone involved in boating...
s and top hat
Top hat
A top hat, beaver hat, high hat silk hat, cylinder hat, chimney pot hat or stove pipe hat is a tall, flat-crowned, broad-brimmed hat, predominantly worn from the latter part of the 18th to the middle of the 20th century...
s, however almost everyone considered to be honorary to wear what is known as telnyashka
Telnyashka
A telnyashka is a dark color and white striped, sleeveless or not, undershirt, which is an iconic uniform of the Russian Navy, the Russian Airborne Forces and the Russian Naval Infantry , initially by Soviet predecessors of these troops...
(a sailor's shirt).
The regiment was reassigned to Kotovskiy's Brigade under the command of the 45th division led by a Bessarabian Jewish Iona Yakir
Iona Yakir
Iona Emmanuilovich Yakir was the Red Army commander and one of the world's major military reformers between World War I and World War II.-Early years:...
. In July 1919 Yaponchik's forces were engaged in fight against the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic
Ukrainian People's Republic
The Ukrainian People's Republic or Ukrainian National Republic was a republic that was declared in part of the territory of modern Ukraine after the Russian Revolution, eventually headed by Symon Petliura.-Revolutionary Wave:...
that often being exclusively associated with Symon Petliura, the Ukrainian national leader who led Ukraine's struggle for independence following the Russian Revolution of 1917. The Yaponchik's men rendezvous with Ukrainians near the town of Birzula (today's Kotovsk) where they were so successful that managed to take the town of Vapnyarka
Vapniarka
Vapniarka , also known as Vapniarca, Vapnyarka, Wapnjarka or Wapniarka, is a town in Vinnytsia Oblast, Ukraine, known since 1870 as a railroad station. Its name from the Ukrainian language translates as a lime settlement...
in Podolie
Podolie
Podolie is a village and municipality in Nové Mesto nad Váhom District in the Trenčín Region of western Slovakia.-Geography:The municipality lies at an altitude of 180 metres and covers an area of 17.266km². It has a population of about 2056 people....
(near Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia
Vinnytsia is a city located on the banks of the Southern Bug, in central Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Vinnytsia Oblast.-Names:...
, dozens of miles away) securing several military prisoners and trophies. However, after the followed counter-attack the regiment fled and many soldiers deserted it. What happened afterward is covered in mystery. There are some suggestions that the regiment mutinied and after securing couple of trains tried to return to Odessa. Another version of the story tells that the higher command tried to isolate Yaponchik from the rest of his troops and ordered him to head towards Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
. Yaponchik, however, with a company
Company (military unit)
A company is a military unit, typically consisting of 80–225 soldiers and usually commanded by a Captain, Major or Commandant. Most companies are formed of three to five platoons although the exact number may vary by country, unit type, and structure...
-size security did not go to Kiev, but rather turned towards Odessa. He was ambushed by Cheka
Cheka
Cheka was the first of a succession of Soviet state security organizations. It was created by a decree issued on December 20, 1917, by Vladimir Lenin and subsequently led by aristocrat-turned-communist Felix Dzerzhinsky...
about mile away from the town of Voznesensk
Voznesensk
Voznesensk is a city in the Mykolaiv Oblast of Ukraine and a center of Voznesenskyi Raion . As of 2001, the city's population is 42,634....
and was killed in a clay quarry during the arrest by an uyezd
Uyezd
Uyezd or uezd was an administrative subdivision of Rus', Muscovy, Russian Empire, and the early Russian SFSR which was in use from the 13th century. Uyezds for most of the history in Russia were a secondary-level of administrative division...
military commissar Nikifor Ursulov on July 29, 1919 at eight o'clock in the morning. His body was covered by sand. Later by the order #296 of the 12th Army
12th Army (Soviet Union)
The Soviet Union's 12th Army was a field army formed multiple times during the Russian Civil War and World War II.-Civil War & Polish-Soviet War:...
Nikifor Ursulov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner
Order of the Red Banner
The Soviet government of Russia established the Order of the Red Banner , a military decoration, on September 16, 1918 during the Russian Civil War...
.
Popular culture
The Yaponchik's cult of personality was so strong in Odessa that it was used as prototype by Isaak Babel as Benya KrikBenya Krik
Benya Krik is a fictional Russian gangster of Jewish descent, whose gang of thugs is the main subject of Isaak Babel's collection of short stories The Odessa Tales. He also plays a prominent role in Babel's play Sunset...
in his Odessa Tales. The traces of his personality can also be found in the artistic works of Alexander Rozenbaum.
External links
- The thief in legends
- The king of Moldavanka
- Recollections of Mikhail Vinnitskiy
- Biography of Mishka Yaponchik at Odesskiy.com
- Utyosov sings about Mishka the Sailor (You are the Sailor, Mishka, the Sailor does not weep.)
- Война в цилиндрах