https://www.juifsdici.ca/gangsters-juifs/Not about the mafia, but an article about the jewish gangsters before the control of the italians of the montreal underworld.
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Jewish mobsters
Before the arrival of the New York Cosa Nostra in the early 1950s, organized crime activities in Montreal, such as illegal gambling, drug trafficking and prostitution, were handled locally. From the 1920s to the early 1950s, many Jews took part in the various illicit activities carried out by the Montreal underworld.
At the start of the Roaring Twenties, Max Shapiro left Poland for Montreal. Operating one of the most lucrative gambling houses in the metropolis, he became co-owner of the famous hotel and restaurant Ruby Foo's in 1962.
New York native Harry Feldmanowns a three-storey building located at the corner of Bleury and Sainte-Catherine streets. While the ground floor houses a legitimate business, the upper floors serve as a landmark for bookmakers. Unlike most other gangsters of his time, Mr. Feldman led a quiet life, preferring to stay away from the drug trade. Although he is the co-owner of several renowned Montreal establishments, including the dancers club Chez Parée, Harry Feldman is above all considered a family man. Throughout his active life, he manages to slip under the radar of the police authorities. His outstanding organizational skills even earned him praise from Pacific Plante, the former chief of police of Montreal.
Originally from Romania, Harry Davisexerts a great influence on the world of illegal gambling in Montreal. He is particularly known for having ordered the first assassination ever perpetrated in the underworld of Montreal. In 1935, he ordered the execution of Charles Feigenbaum, an informer whose testimony led him to serve a 14-year prison sentence for trafficking morphine. On August 21, 1934, Mr. Feigenbaum was coldly shot on Avenue de l'Esplanade, near Jeanne-Mance Park. Shortly after regaining his freedom in the mid-1940s, Harry Davis regained control of illegal gambling in the Quebec metropolis. Those wishing to open a new gambling den in the Red Light district must now ask Mr. Davis for permission, in addition to paying him 20 percent of their profits.
The reign of the famous Montreal bandit came to an abrupt end on July 25, 1946. The gangster, whose pretensions precipitated his death, was shot at close range in his own gambling den located at 1244 Stanley Street. His assassin, a man named Louis Bercowitz, is a crook whom he had forbidden to open his own gambling house. The death of Harry Davis immediately allows Harry Ship to take control of the illegal gambling industry. His poor management will allow a few years later the New York Cosa Nostra to interfere in the underworld of Montreal, thus marking the beginning of a new era within Quebec organized crime.
Called the "king of gambling", bookmaker Harry Ship operates numerous illegal casinos on the island of Montreal. Born in 1915, he briefly studied mathematics at Queen's University in his early adult life. Despite showing excellent academic performance and being highly respected by his fellow students, Harry Ship decides to leave the university before the end of his studies. Upon his return to Montreal in 1940, he set up a series of “white houses” along Sainte-Catherine Street. Each house, which is actually an illegal casino, has five telephone lines, blackboards and headsets. This equipment allows players to bet while noting their bets. The popularity of white houses has reached such a level that Mr.
At the same time, Harry Ship operates illegal casinos in Lachine, Greenfield Park and even on a farm in Côte-Saint-Luc. The resounding success of the many establishments he ran with an iron fist allowed him to lead a great lifestyle. From 1940 to 1946, the famous Montreal bandit reaped annual profits amounting to more than a million dollars (which is equivalent to about 15 million dollars today). Owning, among other things, a mansion in Outremont and the dancers' club Chez Parée, where great American artists such as Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra perform, Harry Ship must constantly deal with police roundups targeting his establishments. He often finds himself obliged to pay hefty fines to the police authorities. In 1948, he was finally arrested and sentenced to six months' imprisonment.
At the end of the 1940s, Harry Ship played an important role in establishing the Cosa Nostra in Montreal. During this period, he came to owe a great deal of money to Frank Erikson, the East Coast's most successful bookmaker, whose passive associates included Meyer Lansky, Frank Costello and Lucky Luciano. Heavily in debt, Harry Ship was forced to accept the interference of New York mafia families in the underworld of Montreal at the turn of the 1950s. The New York underworld immediately took control of organized crime, quickly making Montreal a hotbed of hub of illegal betting and heroin trafficking.
It is unclear what happened to Harry Ship thereafter. Resting alongside members of his family in Baron De Hirsch Cemetery, he was, like many other iconic local figures, immortalized in Mordecai Richler 's novel The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz .
