Don Cardi, SC and I (and others here) have long been frustrated trying to separate Mob myths from reality. Sifting the BS is hard because Mob guys and their associates aren’t the types to leave their collected letters and papers to universities for scholars to peruse. Instead, most books and articles about organized crime print hearsay and myth—the more sensational the better. And the myths get perpetuated in later books and articles. Here are some examples from the life of Meyer Lansky, one of the most famous and enigmatic gangsters:
Lansky was widely believed to have been the wealthiest gangster in history, "worth $300 million." But his definitive biographer, Robert Lacey, traced the $300 million report to Hank Greenspun, publisher of the Las Vegas Sun, who admitted that he printed it, after hearing it second-hand, because it was an impressive figure. Everyone else who wrote about Lansky was impressed, too, which is how the myth evolved. Lacey found that Lansky, at his peak, was worth about $5 million—not small change then or now, but hardly the stuff of $300 million. Lacey says that the reason Lansky died peacefully at 81 was that he was never as rich or powerful as people believed. “He was the accountant, not the boss,” which is how he avoided provoking the jealousy that often leads to violence in Mobdom.
Lansky attempted to gain Israeli citizenship in the early Seventies. The US Justice Department tried to get Israel to deport him, so a lengthy court battle ensued. Lansky befriended influential Israeli journalist Uri Dan, thinking that Dan could help his case. He agreed to give Dan “exclusive” interviews for a biography on Lansky that Dan wanted to write. Dan, gaga over his “exclusive,” believed everything that Lansky told him-—and Lansky had some fun with him. For instance, Lansky told Dan that Abner (Longy) Zwillman, one of the biggest gangsters in US history, was a member of his gang as a teenager. Yeah, sure, Meyer: Zwillman was born in, and operated in, Newark, NJ. Lansky was on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. The Lincoln and Holland Tunnels and the Washington Bridge weren’t built when Zwillman and Lansky were teenagers. In order for Zwillman to “run with Meyer’s gang,” he’d have had to commute from Newark to New York by streetcar, ferry, subway and bus—a trip that would have taken at least two hours each way.
Lansky also told Dan that he, Bugsy Siegel and Al Capone were great friends and allies because Siegel “sheltered Capone in his house of Fourteenth Street” while Capone was hiding from an Irish gang called the “White Handers,” until Capone could leave for Chicago. Uh, Meyer: Capone left Brooklyn for Chicago in 1919. Benny Siegel was born on February 28, 1906, making him all of thirteen years old when Capone left for Chicago. Ever know a thirteen-year-old who owned a house and sheltered criminals in it? I don’t think so. But this fun-filled fact was picked up by Rich Cohen in his book, “Tough Jews,” which (other than the photos) is another source of Mob myths, not realities.

Awesome. I hope this becomes a regular column.

I agree. It is probably true that in order to sell a book or movie authors have to produce a product with which an audience can identify. Well, we all can identify with the idea of being rich and powerful, being in control, and having any number of people there to do our bidding. There's no doubt that gangsters have these attributes, but not all of them have them all nor to the same degree nor use them in the same way. The Trilogy, especially GFI, has done alot to create this myth of the dignified, honorable, and omniscient gangster to whom nothing is impossible. I didn't buy it then and I don't buy it now.

As Turnbull has said, much of the information out there on many gangsters is purely speculation and interpretation on the part of the writers. One gangster that you will find many different stories being told about is Ben Bugsy Seigel.
There is not much to go on as far as research goes when it comes to Bugsy. If I am not mistaken he is one of several mobsters who's FBI files have dissapeared. So therefore most of the stories told about him are pure folklore, stories that were passed on by word of mouth. Let's keep in mind that, as Turnbull pointed out, the mobsters from those days did not keep memoirs and notes. The more modern gangsters of our era now write or have written autobiographies, etc. So some of the information gathered is somewhat more reliable than information on the older era mobsters.


Don Cardi

People want to believe the Maffia and famous gangsters were so glorious as portraited in The Godfather. I, well I didn't thought GF was how it actually happened (at first-time view), but thanks to Mario Puzo making you symphatize with the Corleonese, I somehow started to think Maffia is something good (I maybe was a little drunk during my first view), and I had a slight belief that there was reality in it.
Until now, I only read one book about the Maffia (John Dickie - Cosa Nostra) but my "slight belief" that GF is somehow reality, completely dissapeared.

Turnbull, I'm asking you for a favor: make this a regular column, like Don Cardi's and Don Zadjali's biography's.

I have a maybe myth about Dutch Schultz killing. Maybe some of you guys could tell me if i'm (i read it in the book The American Mafia from Thomas Reppetto) right.

According to the book Dutch Schultz wasn't killed because he wanted to kill Dewey. He wasn't that dumd. He would know that there would become another special prosecuter, and now everybody want's to put Dutch behind bars. That new special prosecuter would be John Harlen Amen. He was making a case against Lepke Buchalter (garmentindustry) and Socks Lanza (Fulton Fish Market).

The book gave another theorie: Dutch Schultz (a Jew) told Lucky Luciano and Lepke Buchalter that he wanted to became a Cathollike, like his wife. According to the book, Lepke and Luciano thought it was very strange for a man to make such a U-turn in his life. They thought he was gonna confess someting (because confession has a big part in Catholicism). So, they thought he would tell everything to Dewey...

But according to the book this theory is the most logical: The mafia wanted to get rid of Dutch Schultz, because he attracted many attention. And ofcourse, with Dutch gone, his bussines was devided among Luciano and Lepke (they just wanted to take over his bussines).


Could anyone tell me if the book is right? Or wich one is the most logical...

Id like to know once and for all about the parentage situation within the mafia, when it started you had to have 2 sicilian parents, nowadays your father needs to be italian or is it vice versa?

This is the first that I am hearing about the religious conversion theory. Interesting. But the most told and logical one is the theory that he wanted to take out Dewey and Luciano and company did not want that to happen. Luciano and company were "business men" who relized that the execution of a high profile prosecutor like Dewey would have brought down a lot of unwanted and unneeded heat on the syndicate. The authorities would have cracked down big time on mob activities and that meant that Luciano and compnay would not be making money. The ironic thing though is if Luciano and company decided to take out Shultz in order to prevent him from killing Dewey, that within several years of Schultz's death Dewey went after and successfully prosecuted Luciano. So in reality by Luciano indirectly saving Dewey's life, he forfieted his own freedom in life.


Don Cardi

I think Dutch was killed just so his rackets could be absorbed. I think it's as simple as that.

As far as Mafia parentage goes, I don't know of any evidence that admission to that select fraternity requires only one Italian parent. There are still plenty of full Italians (like me) around from which potential Mafiosi can be drawn.

Olivant, I think that you are correct. That was the bottom line. Luciano and company realized that Schultz had become too risky for the mob, wanted to take out a prosecutor, and was bringing too much attention to the business. So the bottom line, as you have said, was that if they took him out, they would be able to cool things down and absorb his rackets at the same time. Money was usually the catylist in these types of situations.

As far as the percentage thing of the mafia, well to be a member there was NO requirement heritage wise.

Lansky, Seigel, Sedway, Dalitz, Eastman, Cohen, etc. These don't sound to me like Sicilian or Italian names, yet all of these guys were highly important, highly respected, and were key men in mob families. Many were cold blooded murderers who structured and ran many of the mobs rackets.

As posted above the Mafia was at one time a Sicilian thing that came to America. Over the years they tried to get rid of the myth of the mafia and then the organization became known as La Cosa Nostra ( see Turnbulls post ).

To become a MADE member of the mafia, la cosa nostrsa or the mob at one time required that one be of FULL Sicilian decent. Then eventually, as the years went on, to become a MADE member of the mafia, la cosa nostra or the mob the "rules" were changed and one only needed to have a father of Italian heritage.

But being a member of the mob or being a made man of the mob are two different things.

In my opinion the made man thing was just a tradition that was kept up by many of the old school mobsters. Modernized mob guys like Lucky Luciano, again in my opinion, probably couldn't have given a damn about Sicilian background or Italian heritage. As the bottom line with him was that if an associate, or anyone for that matter, could provide income for him and his cronies, then they would be welcomed into his circle. Think about it, who did Luciano go to to learn about the business and how to make money at it? A jewish man named Arnold Rothstien.


Don Cardi

All of the stories that Juventus raised have been told about Dutch Shultz. All of them could be true. The consensus of all the stuff I've read about him was that he was a menace to the calm, businesslike atmosphere that Charlie Luciano was trying to put forward through the Commission. He was a pazzo, and he may very well have threatened to kill special prosecutor Dewey, which would have brought greater heat on the Mob than it was already experiencing. Luciano invited him to sit with the Commission and tried to reason with Shultz, but to no avail. So, the Dewey threat could have been the reason for his murder. But he also had lucrative rackets (like numbers) that he was neglecting with his craziness and his highly publicized trials. So, his death could have benefited his competitors--including Luciano. And yes, he was born a Jew (real name: Arthur Fliegenheimer). Apparently he did attempt to convert to Catholicism by walking into a church and convincing a priest to baptize him. But the ceremony never was officially recognized as a true conversion.
As for parentage and Mafia membership: Early American Mafia families were almost like clans whose membership was restricted to men who came from the same villages in Sicily, and were most likely related by blood or marriage. But by the Twenties, the Mafia was enrolling non-Sicilians (like Joe Valachi, who was a Neapolitan) because they needed more hands to do their dirty work. Charlie Luciano welcomed non-Sicilians into membership, and even allowed non-Italians like Meyer Lansky and Dutch Schultz to sit with the Commission--he valued money-making ability over place of origin. Luciano’s successors, Vito Genovese and Frank Costello, were from Naples and Calabria, respectively. The most notable recent non-Sicilian Don was John Gotti, whose grandparents were from Naples. Joe (“Donnie Brasco”) Pistone, in his book, “The Way of the Wiseguy,” says the only requirement now is that a Made Man have an Italian father. Sammy (Da Bull) Gravano, in “Underboss,” summarized it neatly: “I guess the public could say mob guys were racist because they strictly deal with Italians. But I think they’re the most unracist people in the world. They’re just greedy. The only color they care about is green, the color of money.”

I don't know. I'm going to have to have it acknowledged from more than one source that eligibility for Mafia membership can be based on just an Italian father. If so, that was a significant change from Henry Hill's day's in the 60s and 70s to Pistone's in the 80s - a short period of time.

Turnbull what if someone had an Italian (and by default italian last name) and say a black mother? (unlikely) what would the 'policy' on that be?

To be honest, Tony: I don't know. I quoted some sources, but it's really hard to know what, if any, rules really apply. And, like Olivant, I don't like to put my faith in once source. I quoted Joe Pistone, but I really can't be certain that he's definitive. It's hard to imagine that, since ratting out the Bonannos, he gets regular calls from Mob guys who tell him the latest goings-on and rules changes.

Under Maranzano's reign as boss of bosses (was was very short) could somebody as an Italian be made or only someone being Sicilian?

Non-Sicilians were being made in the US Mafia before Maranzano declared himself capo di tutti capi. I don't know if he would have tried to reverse that because he wasn't on his self-proclaimed throne long enough. If he had, he would have been cutting off a major source of tribute.