Odessa, Ukraine

Odessa or Odesa is the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,003,705. The city is a major seaport and transportation hub located on the northwestern shore of the Black Sea. Odessa is also an administrative center of the Odessa Oblast and a multi-ethnic major cultural center.

Odessa in The War That Came Early
In 1941, Romania entered the Second World War as an ally of Germany after Germany promised Romania would get Odessa and the adjoining lands on the far bank of the Dniester upon the defeat of the Soviet Union. However, in April, 1944, the Committee for the Salvation of the German Nation overthrew Adolf Hitler and the Nazis, bringing the war to a halt in Europe. Odessa remained Soviet territory.