Viclore

This post is a follow-on to my previous one: The Mystery of the Golden Titanic in Odesa. In this post I recounted being told the story of a Jewish man from Odesa who had survived the sinking of the Titanic. When he returned to Odesa, he commissioned a solid gold copy of the ship which was subsequently hidden in the Odesa Catacombs. The golden ship was never recovered.

Examining the records of those who were on the Titanic, only two people were recorded as being born in Odesa/Odessa: Anna Abelson¹ and Uscher Pulner². Only Abelson survived; Pulner unfortunately died in the sinking of the Titanic aged only 16. His body was never recovered. Whilst Abelson had a Russian husband (Samuel Abelson³), he also did not survive the sinking.

It is said that Pulner was travelling with a family friend, Aaron Willer⁴. As with many other passengers staying in third class, he did not survive⁵. Two other male passengers from Russia were identified: David Sarnoff⁶ and Simon Meisnere⁷. Sarnoff did survive the tragedy, but worked in radio in the USA. Meisnere did not survive.

As several versions of the story said that our man was a jeweller, let’s look more broadly at any jewellers who sailed on the Titanic. This gives us Engelhart Cornelius Østby⁸, Ervin G. Lewy⁹, and Henry Blank¹⁰. Østby and Lewy died in the sinking, but Blank survived. Whilst he was said to have visited Europe again, he primarily resided in the USA.

So, where does this leave us? The only man from Odesa onboard the Titanic was Uscher Pulner, who died in the tragedy. Perhaps the version of the story in which a man was rescued and ended up in Odesa (without being from the city) is true. Perhaps none of it is true. Still, it makes a good story, doesn’t it?

References

1. Anna Abelson https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/abelson.html ↩︎
2. Uscher Pulner https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/uscher-pulner.html ↩︎
3. Samuel Abelson https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/samuel-abelson.html ↩︎
4. Uscher Pulner https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/uscher-pulner.html ↩︎
5. Aaron Willer https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/aaron-willer.html ↩︎
6. David Sarnoff https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-biography/david-sarnoff.html ↩︎
7. Simon Meisnere https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/simon-maisner.html ↩︎
8. Engelhart Cornelius Østby https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/engelhart-cornelius-ostby.html ↩︎
9. Ervin G. Lewy https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-victim/ervin-lewy.html ↩︎
10. Henry Blank https://www.encyclopedia-titanica.org/titanic-survivor/henry-blank.html ↩︎