James Baldwin - Burn Artist

Organization. Along with ‘Bratva’ and ‘Brigada’, Organizatsiya is the self-identifying term for the ‘Russian Mafia’.

Brigade. A slang term for a gang, especially a small, violent clique within a larger Russian mafia.

The hand of Fatima or Hamsa is a hand-shaped pendant with an eye in the center of the palm. A common good-luck or protective charm in the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe, India and among the Roma.

Literally just means ‘men’ in Ukrainian, but has a specific rural, blue-collar context. Used to refer to one’s brigada.

A magus. There are many words for ‘mage’, ‘wizard’ and ‘sorcerer’ in Russian. A volkhv is specifically a magus, a learned sorcerer capable of creating and destroying protective magic.

A cell commander or the leader of a brigada, who answers to an Avtoritet . They are generally hands-on street commanders who lead small teams and directly supervise criminal operations. They also tend to do (and farm out) a lot of enforcement work.

A rude Ukrainian term for ethnic Russian people.

‘Advocate’. A senior advisor to the Avtoritet. Somewhat like a Consigliere in the Italian mafia.

A rude, racist term for Americans in general and African-Americans in particular.

Soviet prison work camps. They were notoriously brutal, and millions of people, mostly men, died working in mines or on railroads for Stalin’s Soviet Union.

A slang term for non-magical people.

The ultimate authority of an Organizatsiya. The Pakhun (literally ‘prince’) is generally a thief-in-law with great seniority. They are often involved in government and high-level corporate work, especially in gas and energy ventures. They may manage multiple Avtoritets and multiple criminal ventures and are rarely ever involved in street-level work.

A Yiddish word for audacity. Ballsy.

Filled dumplings common in Eastern Europe. Ukrainian-style pelmeni usually have pork, veal, potato and cheese or sour cherry fillings.

Butt. Another Yiddish word.

A sweet, usually non-alcoholic drink made from fresh fruit steeped in sugar water and boiled. Steep it too long, and it might turn into Rakija.

A racist term Russians typically use for Ukrainians.

Italian mafia term meaning ‘Captain’. Short for ‘Caporegime’

Italian word meaning ‘whore’.

Brothers. The term ‘comrade’ is almost never used, if at all. Brothers and brotherhood mean a lot more to the average criminal.

A mildly derogatory slang term used to describe young, poor, working-class men who typically hang out in small gangs. The stereotype is of an Adidas-loving, gay-hating, heavy drinking kid who spends a lot of time squatting in the middle of the road with his friends and committing petty crime. For men from that background, it can be a reclaimed title and an in-joke.

A really rude, racist term for anyone with dark skin.

‘Cherni’ means ‘black’. Another nasty racist term.

Common Ukrainian toast. ‘To health!’

Ukrainian style vodka, typically flavored with spicy peppers, fruit, or herbs.

A small box on a strap that contains Torah scripts that is worn during prayer by Jewish men.