The seamy Jewish underworld of Odesa is the setting for Isaac Babel's story based on the life of gangster king Mishka Yaponchik "Mike the Jap" Vinnitsky. Murder is a way of life for Benya and his gang until he finds himself ensnared in a Bolshevik trap.

Mendel Krik
Benya Krik, Mendel's son
Dvoira, Benya's sister
Lazar Spilgagen, Dvoira's fiancΓ©
Kolka Pakovskiy
Lyovka Byk
Abdullah
Savka Butsis
Froim Grach
Marantz, broker
Ruvim Tartakovskiy, owner of 19 bakeries
Muginstein, Tartakovskiy's clerk