A NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND TRANSLATION

It is always difficult to make choices about place-names in countries with shifting borders and complex language politics. In Ukraine, city names have changed often, depending on administrations, and spellings have shifted between Russian and Ukrainian, as well as Polish, German, and other languages. Beyond the most recognized spellings of Odesa (Ukrainian) and Odessa (Russian), in different national historiographies and academic texts, the city’s name has also been referred to as Odessos (Greek), Odes (Hebrew), and Ades (Yiddish). The range of names speaks to Odesa’s multicultural and multilinguistic cosmopolitanism.

Language choice and place-name spellings have become a very sensitive topic in the current political climate of the Russian-Ukrainian war, and attitudes vary greatly. I consulted many experts and international scholars on how to spell the name of the city in this book when I am referring to different historical periods, and I was offered many different approaches. There is no clear answer in this ever-evolving present. The traces that we leave on paper (creating a permanent mark for future readers) are often surrounded by complex tensions and competing perspectives.

In February 2024, I discussed the matter with one of the colleagues at the Museum of the History of Odesa Jews, where she was in the process of changing the display signs from Russian to Ukrainian and English. She admitted that removing Russian, her native language, from the signs had been “a very hard decision done with a heavy heart,” but she thought the new signs better reflected the current reality. While continuing to conduct her museum tours in Russian, she recognized that the official labels had to be in the official language of the state. I decided then to follow the museum’s approach. For the sake of consistency, I refer to the city as Odesa throughout the text, except when quoting passages where it appeared in the original text as Odessa or when citing Russian speakers.

Figure Note.1. “Odessa, Ukraine!!!” on a banner written in Russian, spring 2022. Photo by and courtesy of Boris Bukman.

But it is important to note that the Ukrainian spelling Odesa does not mean that the Russian spelling Odessa has disappeared altogether from the urban landscape, even in this time of war. During my initial research, many of my interlocutors told me they did not wholeheartedly adopt the legal change of place-names. Although the Ukrainian spelling Odesa was used in most public spaces, thereby linking the city to the Ukrainian nation-state, I often heard people say, “I can’t get used to seeing it spelled with one s. It just doesn’t look right,” or “I can’t switch to Odesa with one s; it changes the pronunciation and meaning completely.”

The linguistic entanglements of Ukrainian, Russian, and other languages that have always defined Odesa continue to define it today.

For Ukrainian, Russian, and Hebrew (modern Israeli spellings) transliteration, I mostly follow the simplified recommendations of the Library of Congress (omitting diacritical marks). For Yiddish, I have used the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research system. However, I deviate from those guidelines for words that are widely recognized in the English language: for example, I use Chanukah instead of Hanukah, Pesach instead of Pesah, and the z instead of the s for spelling words like hametz, tzedakah, and tzitzit. Otherwise, I follow the Merriam-Webster dictionary.

Except for public figures and persons who specifically asked to be identified by name, I have employed pseudonyms, using the most widely known English spellings, to protect the privacy of those who so graciously entrusted me with their stories. Unless otherwise indicated, translations are my own.