The question asked was :
“What is your Jewish Gangster story?”
Now that the exhibit has closed, the following is a selection of some of those sticky note comments, some of which I had a hard time deciphering the handwriting and unfortunately couldn't include at the present time.
I thought it would be entertaining to share these here on the blog (verbatim) as they prove to be interesting and at times amusing anecdotes. They also open a different kind of window onto the history of Jewish Gangsters as it seems a good number of close and distant relatives out there feel comfortable in sharing these family tales...
In order to respect people’s privacy, I’ve omitted the names signed to the notes.
If anyone out there has similar anecdotes to share, please feel free to post a comment (a cyber sticky note so to speak).
“My mother’s cousin Betty Wasserman was reportedly married to Lepke Buchalter. Would love to know more about her…”
“Where is my Uncle Abe Zwillman? He invented Organized Crime, funded Columbia Pictures, and organized the crime convention in Atlantic City that started Murder Inc. “*
*This is a comment of my not including Zwillman in the show....
“My dad’s uncle was ‘whacked’ because of his gambling debts in the ‘50s. Him and my aunts almost totally refuse to talk about it.”
“Irving Holtzman was a cousin, who was an assassin for Murder Inc.
He married Dutch Schultz’s daughter and walked out on her after a few days. A “contract” was out on him. When Schultz was murdered the contract expired…and a few years later got an exclusive franchise from the mafia for jukeboxes as a reward. Irving lived in Brooklyn.”
“My father, Isadore Wexler, was a doctor at Sing Sing 1944 – 1951.
He pronounced many of the executed as “Dead after electrocution”
One of the Murder Inc. families left a case of liquor on the porch of our Ossining home so my father would take ‘extra care’ with the family member.”
“My mother dated Lepke’s nephew”
“My father’s business associate knew Lepke and Gurrah Shapiro, with whom he regularly played cards and remarkably, use to insult (jokingly) to their faces. This gave him a certain cache in my eyes. Also, the word in Brooklyn always was that Reles was pushed.”
“ My grandfather, Isadore Ducker, was in a ‘roller skating gang” in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. He was called “flash”. Probably not so tough.”
“My grandfather Abe Samuel Belsky was a detective for the NYPD. He was a “tough jew” who busted mobsters and helped take down Murder Inc.”
“Samuel ‘Red’ Levine was a cousin to my great-grandafther, Abraham Levine, that immigrated through Ellis Island.”
“Abe Reles used to come into my grandfather’s bakery for free rolls. He came in to say hello to my grandfather the day before he was arrested and then tossed into the street 10 stories by the cops when he was talking.”
“My uncles were involved in the gambling ring in Brownsville – My father in jail for running cars and liquor in the ‘30s. Tiny Benson was a close family friend and a gentle giant (over 400 lbs).”
“My mother lived in a Brooklyn apartment. Two nice men from upstairs helped her with the baby carriage everyday bringing it up and down the stairs. She found out later that their nicknames were Lefty Louie and Gyp The Blood.”
“My grandfather had a shop in Brooklyn. At times Jewish gangsters would come by with a machine gun in a violin case and tell my Zahde to “stash it”!”
“My father was a dentist in Brownsville for 50 years and told us stories of having to cover for Jewish gangsters running from the police in hot pursuit. They ran up to his office on Sockmore St. pretending to be patients.”
“My grandfather was Gurrah – I am a successful physician / teacher. I was born ten years after his death. His son, Nathan Shapiro, was an outstanding citizen and philanthropist”
“We are from Brownsville. Born Stone and Riverdale. My father saw them all. He was an honest truckman and once saw Meyer Shapiro in the street. He called to my father “Hey Yearnis (sic) over here, let’s have a beer.” May father said “You stay on your side of the street Moishe”. Shapiro laughed, the next day was found riddled with bullets in Arnarsie (sic). Those guys were such brutal killers they made the Sopranos look like choir boys.”
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