Jewish Organized Crime as Much

Jewish Organized Crime

As much as the world knows about the Jewish history, it is an amazing fact that they do not have information or even knowledge of Jewish organized criminal activities. Silberman notes that, this lack of information "is a good example of the amnesia American Jews show about this part of their history." [SILBERMAN, p. 128]

Jewish organized crime originated in the U.S. around late 19th century and early 20th century. It was time when Jewish gangs under the notorious mafia leader Monk Eastman competed with major Italian and Irish gangs for domination in New York. To control the underworld of New York, Jewish gangs were actively involved in gang wars but Irish and Italian mafia still ruled till 1920s. During 1920s, due to the changes in the economy and sudden surge in the wealth and power of the Jews, Jewish gang leader Arnold Rothstein became more notorious and hence Jewish gangs got involved in organized crime more seriously than ever before. Leo Katcher focuses on the activities of Rothstein and believed that it was him who, "transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top."[2] the power of Jewish mafia couldn't be underestimated when it became clear that Rothstein was involved in influencing the results of 1919 World Series.

Like other gangs, Jewish organized crime was involved in more than one kind of activity. Though drugs have remained the most sought after activity of most mafia in the world, Jewish gangs were also involved in bootlegging and prostitution. They had significant influence over worker unions in New York as they sought to extend their power through various unions in the garment, transportation and poultry industries. With Jewish organized crime gaining strength in the U.S., it became a matter of deep concern for their community. For one, such activities were not at par with the Jewish teachings and second, these activities had given others a reason to intensify their prejudice against Jews.

But as obvious as their presence might have been, Jewish crime remained a hushed subject in the history of Jews in the U.S. This oversight was intentional and by no means an evidence of lack of criminal activities in Jewish circles. In fact it was the nefarious activities of Jewish entrepreneur Joseph Seligman that led to the stock market crash in late 1800s as Ginsberg notes:

"[the crash] ruined thousands of investors, implicated President Grant, and led to a Congressional investigation of [Jay] Gould and Seligman ... Similarly, in the early 1890s, Jacob Schiff collaborated with E.H. Harriman in the latter's attempts to wrest control of the Northern Pacific Railroad from J.P. Morgan and James Hill ... When the price of the Northern Pacific Stock collapsed, the entire market crashed in the notorious 'Black Thursday' panic that led to a nationwide economic depression." [Ginsberg., p. 73]