H2: Jewish Gangsters

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Introduction

Jewish gangsters flourished in the period between the two world wars and, together with the Italians, they organised American crime and made it large, powerful and deadly.

"We're bigger than U.S Steel," said Meyer Lansky, one of the most notorious and longest living gangsters in this period. And he was right.

In January 1919, three quarters of the United States ratified the 18th amendment to the constitution of the United States. This amendment forbade "the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquours... for beverage purposes." The ban on alcohol went into effect on midnight on January 16th, 1920 and from that moment on it seemed that every American had to have a drink. In response to this great American thirst, 200,000 unlicensed saloons selling illegal "bootleg" whisky sprung up all over the United States. These bars and restaurants were called "speakeasies" and "blind pigs". Al Capone, the most famous gangster of all, spoke for both gangsters and many "respectable" Americans as well, when he declared that "You can't cure a thirst by law!".

During this period of prohibition, fifty per cent of the nations leading bootleggers were Jews and Jewish gangs bossed the "rackets" in some of Americas largest cities.

1881 -1914

Between 1881 and 1914 almost 2 million Eastern European Jews entered the United States. Over 75% of them came from Russia. They increased the country's Jewish population from 250,000 in 1880 to 3.3 million in by 1917. Pogroms and devastating economic restrictions in Russia, government sponsored discrimination in Romania, and grounding poverty in Austria-Hungary. Jews were also lured to America by tales of the wonderous opportunities of the "golden land", and by the advent of cheap Trans Atlantic shipping fares.

These Eastern European Jews crowded into the great cities of the East Coast of America. The Jewish gangster sprang from these densely populated districts.

The most notorious breeding ground for Jewish gangs before World War One was in the Lower East Side of New York. By 1910, 540,000 Jews lived within its 1.5 square miles. A minority of young Jewish men, sick of the terrible conditions the "ghetto" had to offer turned to the more lucrative business of racketeering, prostitution and violence. Men such as Monk Eastman, Joseph Toblinsky, Dopey Benny Fine and hundreds of gangsters like them began to terrorise the neighbourhood.

In the Beginning

Jewish involvement in American crime did not start during prohibition. By the end of the 19th century, Jews appeared more and more frequently on police files.

From their earliest residence in the United States , dating back to the mid 17th century, Jews had enjoyed a reputation for being among the countries most law abiding and least violent citizens. Journalists visiting jails in search of a story, frequently noted how they rarely saw "the face of an Israelite" amongst the prisoners. This spotless reputation began to tarnish in the 19th century.

In 1886, Thomas Byrnes, a former New York city Police Inspector and Chief Detectives published a compendium of "America's leading professional criminals", most of whom lived in New York City. Four per cent of the men on his list were Jews. At the time, Jews made up less then one percent of the American population, but ten per cent of New York's population.

Scanning Byrnses' lists, we find that Jewish criminals were primarily thieves and confidence men and rarely engaged in crimes of physical violence. For example, Abe "The General" Greenthal was one of America's most notorious pick pockets. One of America's most celebrated burglars was Michael Kurtz, alias Michael Sheehan, alias "Sheeny Mike". Born in New York in 1850, Mike joined a gang of burglars when he was fourteen years old. He became a highly valuable asset because of his ability to quickly analyse the construction of a building the gang wanted to rob, and to locate its weak spots. Kurtz also became adept at cutting through floors and partitions and at blowing up safes. Sheeny Mike was arrested numerous times but usually got off. The one time he was convicted, he originated a scheme to gain his release that became a legendary classic among criminals.

In March 1877, Mike was arrested and convicted of robbing a silk emporium in Boston and received a twelve year sentence. While in jail he contrived to secure a pardon as a man on the verge of death. First, he made himself sick and thin by drinking soapy water. He then made an incision in his side and with the aid of the chemical preparation caused pus to flow out. The physicians who examined him concluded that he would not live a month. On the basis of their report, the Governor of Massachusetts pardoned Kurtz in 1880. After his release, Kurtz recovered his health so quickly that he was arrested just three months later, on the charge of robbing a dry goods store in Washington DC. He was discharged for lack of evidence.

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