 During World War II the catacombs served as a hiding place for Soviet partisans, in particular the squad of Vladimir Molodtsov.In his work "The Waves of The Black Sea", Valentin Kataev described the battle between Soviet partisans against the axis forces, underneath Odessa and its nearby suburb Usatove.In 1961 the "Search" (Poisk) club was created in order to explore the history of partisan movement among the catacombs.