Jewish Mob Organizations

MURDER INC.
City: New York
Time Period: 30's-1947
1. Louis "Lou Lepke" Buchalter (the boss)
Soldiers:
2. Albert "Mad Hatter" Anastasia (boss of the Italian faction and member of the Mangano Family, which later became the Gambino Family)
3. Hyman "Curly" Holtz
4. Abe "Kid Twist" Reles (soldier until becoming a police informant in 1940)
5. Mendy Weiss
6. Vito Gurino (Italian faction member)
7. Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro
8. Martin "Bugzy" Goldstein
9. Frank "The Dasher" Abbandando (Italian faction member)
10. Charles "Charlie The Bug" Workman
11. Harry "Big Greenie" Greenburgh
12. Harry "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss
13. Harry Maine (Italian faction member)
14. Joe Adonis (Italian faction member)
15. Joe Schafer
16. Seymour "Blue Jaw" Magoon (only Irish member)
17. Sholem "Sol" Bernstein
18. Max "The Jerk" Glob
19. Louis "Shadows" Kravits
20. Hyman Yuran
21. Sam Gasberg
22. Philip "Little Farvel" Kovolick
23. Irving Nitzberg
24. Louis Capone (Italian faction member)
25. Louis "Lou" Cohen
26. Jacob "Jake" Drucker
27. Abraham "Trigger Abe" Chapman (moved to San Francisco in 1960)
28. Albert "Tick Tock" Tannenbaum
29. Jack Parisi (member of the Italian faction before joining the Pittston Mob)
CLEVELAND SYNDICATE
City: Cleveland and Las Vegas
Time period: 30's-50's
1. Moe Dalitz (the boss and owner of the Las Vegas Country Club, and 66% owner of the Desert Inn Hotel & Casino)
2. Louis "Lou Rhody" Rothkopf (the underboss)
Soldiers:
3. Leo "Charles Polizzi" Berkowitz
4. Morris "Moe" Kleinman
5. Sam Tucker
6. Rudy Kolod
7. Allard Roen
69TH STREET GANG
City: Philadelphia
Time period: 30's-40's
1. Harry "Nig" Rosen (the boss)
Soldiers:
2. Irving Blitz
3. Waxey Gordon
4. William Weisberg
5. Sam Weisberg (cousin of William)
ROTHSTEIN GANG
City: New York
Time period: 10's-20s
1. Arnold Rothstein (the boss)
Soldiers:
2. Frank Erickson
3. Sam Goldstein
4. Jack "Legs" Diamond (only Irish member)
5. Jack Rothstein (brother of Arnold)
BUG & MEYER GANG
City: New York, Las Vegas, Los Angeles and New Orleans
Time Period: 1931-1957
1. Meyer Lansky (boss)
2. Benjamin "Bugzy" Siegel (underboss)
Soldiers:
3. Morris "Moey" Sedway
4. Solly Solloway (brother-in-law of Bugzy)
5. Jacob "Jake" Lansky (brother of Meyer)
6. Hyman "Hymie" Segal
7. Joseph Sacher (was 50% owner of the Sands in Las Vegas)
8. Morrie Rosen (cousin of Bugzy)
9. Philip "Dandy Phil" Kastel (ran the gang from the New Orleans area)
10. Meyer "Mickey" Cohen (ran the gang from L.A. after Bugzy was killed in 1947)
11. Irving Glasser
12. Abe Gordon
13. Benjamin "Bernie" Stein
14. Harry Cohen
15. Morris Levy
16. Charles Carp
17. Frank Satenstein (moved to Miami Beach in the 1960s to live close to Meyer Lansky)
18. Ben Goffstein (manager of the Riviera and later owner of the 4 Queens in Las Vegas)
19. Carl Cohen (manager of the Sands in Las Vegas, well known for punching Frank Sinatra in the face in 1967)
NEW JERSEY SYNDICATE
City: New Jersey
Time period: 20's-30's
1. Abner "Longy" Zwillman (the boss)
2. Joseph "Doc" Stacher (the underboss)
Soldiers:
3. Willie Moretti (Italian member and hitman)
4. Louis Silvers
NOE-SCHULTZ MOB
City: New York
Time Period: 20's-30's
1. Joey Noe (the boss)
2. Dutch Schultz (the underboss who took over after Noe was killed in 1932)
Soldiers:
3. Abe Landau
4. Bernard "Lulu" Rosenkrantz
5. Martin "Marty" Krompier
6. Abe "Bo" Weinberg
7. George Weinberg (the brother of Abe)
8. Vince "Mad Dog" Coll (Irish member and hitman)
9. Jules Modgilewsky
10. Otto Berman
PURPLE GANG
City: Detroit
Time Period: 1925-60's
1. Boss: Abe Bernstein (the city's Jewish godfather from 1925 until his death in 1968, founder of Purples)
2. Underboss: Ray Bernstein (Abe's younger brother)
3. Counselor: Charles "The Professor" Auerbach
4. Finance Counselor: Jacob "Scotty" Silverstein
Soldiers:
5. Joe Bernstein (Abe's younger brother)
6. Harry "H.F." Fleisher (Purples unofficial "Street Boss")
7. Louie Fleisher
8. Sam Fleisher
9. Joseph "Joe Honey" Miller
10. Abe "Abie the Agent" Zussman
11. Sam "Fatty" Bernstein
12. Jack "The Enforcer" Budd
13. Zigmund "Ziggie" Selbin
14. Hyman "Two-Gun Harry" Altman
15. Sam "The Gorilla" Davis
16. Irving "Little Irv/Slick" Shapiro
17. Isadore "Uncle Izzy" Kamisnky
18. Harry Keyhole
19. Sam "Sammy Purple" Cohen
20. Ben "Benny Purple" Cohen
21. Sam "Sammy K" Kert
22. Sam "Uncle Sammy" Garfield
23. Sam "Sammy the Mustache" Norber
24. Eddie Fletcher
25. Abe Axler
26. Morris Raider
27. Harry Millman
28. Myron "Young Mikey" Selik
29. Michel "One Arm Mike" Gelfand
30. Harry Kirshenbaum
31. David "Davey Boy" Feldman
32. Harry "Chinky" Meltzer
33. Isadore "Izzy the Rat"" Sutzker
34. Joseph "Black Joe" Leibovitz
35. Harold "Hymie" Paul
36. Sam Solomon
37. Lou Gellerman
38. William "Candy" Davidson
39. Myron "Left Field Maxie" Silk
40. Ben Marcus
41. Norm Singer
42. Sam "Lefty" Handell
KID CANN GANG
City: Minneapolis
Time Period: 30's-50's
1. Isadore "Kid Cann" Bloomfeld (the boss)
2. Harold "Harry Bloom" Bloomfeld (the underboss)
Soldiers:
3. Jacob "Yiddy Bloom" Bloomfeld
4. Sam Kronick
5. Sam Kozberg
6. Edward "Barney" Berman
7. Sam "Sammy" Stein (close friend of George "Machine Gun" Kelley, killed by police on July 15, 1930)

Nice list. But how about Davie Berman? I didn't see him listed unless i missed it. Which gang was he linked to? I know he ended up in Vegas with Moe Sedway but before that, where did Berman first earn his stripes?

I remember watching a show about the murder of Berman's daughter Susan out in cali. They linked her to that mental case Robert Durst. Strange guy.

Impressive list, Stern. However, Albert Anastasia was never a member of that gang. It seems he supervised it to some extent just like Nino Gaggi did with the Westies. And nobody can claim Nino Gaggi was a soldier with the Westies, can they?

Just like the Westies, "Murder Inc" was an independent gang with strong ties to LCN. During the 1930s they fought other gangs in addition to whacking a number of witnesses and potential wittnesses who could incriminate Buchalter and other mobsters. That´s why their body count was so high, papers talked about hundreds of killings (which of course is a huge exaggerated number). Some claim that the gang functioned as contract killers for LCN but this seems to be a big misconception. LCN certainly had their own killers, within their own ranks, who did the work when needed.

The myth of "Murder Inc" was debunked in Alan Block´s "East Side, West Side", a book which is somewhat forgotten and, unfortunately, unfairly not highly praised enough. I recommend it to anybody with an interest in reading about the NY Jewish gangs of that era (1930s).

Nice list Stern49 and thanx....but i think you can add FRankie Carbo also in the Murder Inc. list cuz i think(im not sure) he was also a member

Davie Berman was a tough Jew, but was never involved or member of any gang, although he was involved in OC to a certain degree.

Regardless of the fact that Murder Inc was made by Newspaper reporters it still got It's name and that's the name we know them as being. Same goes for The Westies.

Frankie Carbo was tied to some of these organizations, but wasn't actually a member of any, but I'll look into that more.

I didn't saw Allie “Tick Tock” Tannenbaum listed unless ive missed him....he was with Carbo on the Big Greenie hit

Check out number 28 in Murder Inc.

Albert Anastasia was definitely a member of Murder Inc. in the beginning.

Thanks Stern. I can't remember the back story on Berman but i thought originally he was part of a crew from maybe Minnesota. But i'm far from sure on that, it's been awhile since i read anything on him.

Jack Parisi was with Murder Inc before he was made in to the Pittston Family.

This is a really good list. There isn't much info out there about Abner Zwillman.

Will add Parisi to list. Thanks, Stern

Stern, by the time "Murder Inc" started out, Anastasia was the underboss in the Mangano Family. Not possible that he at the same time was a "soldier" in that gang. Will you please tell me what is the source for this claim:

There's plenty of articles on him and even a documentary where they say he was a member. You'd have to do the research. Search and you may find. Take care.

Murder Inc had at least 3 informers: Reles, Blue Jaw Magoon and I forget the name of third person. The Combination was independent from mafia structure. There's been some attempts at historical revisionism in recent years suggesting that Anastasia was the boss, which is nonsense.

There's no way Albert was the boss of MI. He was at least a member member.

Great list Stern. Does anyone know if Joe Doto aka Joe Adonis is Jewish? It has been rumored that his parents and him had practiced Judaism.

He was all Italiano from what I've read!

the Israeli mob's page on Wikia seams to be way less biased than the ones on the Italian-American LCN.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israeli_mafia

Anyone with some knowledge on these guys has anything to add/correct?

Yeah, I heard about the Israeli mob.

Nope! Hairy Knuckles is a good dude.

An interesting guy named Mort Lapides should be mentioned. Some fun legal documents still exist online and so does his very shadowy financial entity... And to think I knew him when he was still chasing 17 year olds at the trailer part in his limo.

Morty tried to corner the market on Coca Cola products in Israel and tried various and sundry monopolizing attempts of a somewhat smaller scale around the states. Lots of crooked investments and shady friends. Follow your nose, have fun.

Best charts there is on these guys.

great chart. have never seen a better one. question--
who were the two guys that came into the flamingo after the death of bugsy siegel. and told everyone "we are taking over"

were they 'doc" stacher, and sam rothkoff?

Gus Greenbaum and Moe Sedway...at least thats how the story goes

ok. thanks toodoped... I will take your word for it. if anyone knows it would be you, again, thanks pard.

There seems to be a push to blot out Murder Inc from the history books by certain researchers.

That sort of goes directly against the testimony of Abe Reles.

But it fits in their desire to minimize the relevance of Lucky Luciano and the impact he had on the mafia.

By making Murder Inc a fantasy cooked up by news reporters and fiction writers, they remove the dominant power Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky supposedly had over the mafia they reformed.

alpha. wasn't it Louis buchalter and his jews that started murder inc. the roster is predominately jewish thugs.

I would say yes.

Let me put it like this...

I think the Jewish mob was already into rackets and carrying on before Murder Inc was born. Then later they were conscripted by the Mafia to carry out that role. This was when Lepke's outfit was in charge and running unions and whatnot. As the other poster said, they (the Jewish mob) were gangs with their own rackets. But that does not make Murder Inc a myth.

And apparently, he was partners with Tommy Lucchese (in the 20's) before becoming partners with Albert Anastasia (in the 30's). But I don't think you have Murder Inc as the news reporters dubbed it until the formation of the National Commission and each gang was given it's role in the new order. So I would hazard a guess and place the official formation of Murder Inc in the year 1931.

Lepke might have been one of the co founders of his own outfit, but he battled other Jews for control over labor unions at his inception.

Before him you have Little Augie (Jacob Orgen), and all of the others from ancient New York City that make for very interesting reading. It is necessary study because without it, you can not understand how unions came into being in this country and gained power.

http://www.amazon.com/Gangster-No-Zwillm...=longy+zwillman

Murder Inc. operated in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, where I grew up. Their HQ was Midnight Rose's candy store on Saratoga Avenue near Livonia Avenue. I had a job in what was Midnight Rose's when I was in high school (many years later).

While a member of the Mangano Family, Albert A. was the Mafia boss of Ocean Hill, a neighborhood just north of Brownsville. He was a customer of Murder Inc. and also supplied some of the Italian members. Lepke was the boss of Murder Inc.

Lepke was one of the wealthiest, most powerful gangsters of the Thirties. He was smart enough to partner with and share with various Mafia families. His base was the Garment District in Manhattan, which he shared with various Mafiosi. But, he needed muscle to enforce his will--that's why he formed Murder Inc. Here, too, he was really smart:

The gang that was the core of Murder Inc. started as a local bunch of thugs, controlling a lot of organized crime in the area and beyond. Lepke put them on retainer--paying them a certain amount each week and getting them to do his violence whenever he asked, instead of paying them by each job done. That way, they were free to pursue their local rackets while owing first loyalty to Lepke. Had he paid them for "piecework," they'd have jacked up the price for each hit.

It was a great strategy, but eventually, the number of hits done by Murder Inc. came to the attention of William O'Dwyer, the Brooklyn DA, and his assistant, Burton Turkus. They placed capital murder charges on Kid Twist and Tick-Tock. They ratted out the organization, and Lepke, too. He was the only major OC boss to die in the electric chair.

turnbull, yes, lepke was turned over to j. edgar hoover by walter winchell, with the promise that he would not be prosecuted for murder, the deal fell through, [ if in fact there ever was a deal] and he was convicted of the murder of a man named rosen, and later put to death. the mystery is why he was set up. if im wrong about this please correct me.

Lepke was set up by his own friends. He was bringing to much heat on everybody while hiding in NYC. Supposedly law enforcement were searching for him all over the world.

thank you pimpanella

Based on Reles's accounts to assistant DA Turkus, Lepke was implicated in several murders. He hid out in Brooklyn while his businesses went to hell. He was approached by three "friends" (allegedly Anastasia, Zwillman and Lansky) and advised to surrender on a Federal narcotics rap. Supposedly he'd serve "only" ~six years, which would keep him out of the clutches of Thomas E. Dewey, crime-busting New York prosecutor, who had him on the murder raps. Lepke in fact got 15 years in Leavenworth.

Meanwhile, the Presidential election of 1940 was looming. GOP power-to-be Dewey (who was the GOP candidate in '44 and '48) accused President Roosevelt of "sheltering" Lepke from the NY State murder rap because Lepke got tribute from Sidney Hillman, a Garment District union chief who was FDR's closest labor adviser. FDR was forced to cooperate with Dewey, who then nailed him on the murder rap.

BTW: Lepke was so big that the first Federal charge against him was a violation of the Sherman Antitrust Act--he so dominated the garment industry and trucking that he was charged with being a "combination in restraint of trade" like US Steel and Standard Oil a generation earlier.

good post, thank you tb. good read.

Those were some tough Jews ;-)