The Godfather, Goodfellas, Casino...You've seen all the movies, you know all the characters, you love how they "tawk", you laugh at their comebacks. Whenever anyone says, "Hey, you're funny", you instinctively reply, "Funny how? Am I a clown? Am I here to amuse you?" You're intrigued by the drama, the action, the blood, and the humor. Italian mob movies undoubtedly have a certain allure. But, how much of it is real? Do they accurately portray the organized crime syndicate? How and when did all the craziness begin? To answer those questions and more, you must explore the true, factual history of Italian organized crime and how it came to be..........THE TRUE STORY!!!
Let's begin with the word itself. Although the exact origin of the word "mafia" is uncertain, some believe it originated in 1282 during the French invasion of Sicily and the saying, "Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela" (Death to the French is Italy's Cry), or MAFIA. Then, eventually the word "mafia" came to mean "manly", in Sicily.
Another theory of the origin of "mafia" begins as early as the 9th century. During that period, Sicily was ruled by Arab forces. The original inhabitants were oppressed, and desperately tried to escape and find refuge. In Arabic, the word "mafia" means, "refuge." Sicily was invaded by the Normans in the 11th century and its people were forced into labor and oppression once again. Every invasion of Sicily, thereafter, (French invasion in the 12th century, Spanish in the 13th century, then Germans, Austrians, and Greeks) resulted in native tribes seeking refuge in the hills of the island. The refugees eventually developed a secret society of unification intended to create a sense of family, based on Sicilian heritage. The structure of the organization was built on the idea of family and had a strong hierarchical make up. The "dons" were the family heads, in charge of the mafia in every village. They had to report to the "don of dons", who lived in Palermo, the capital of Sicily.
Members of the unified organization were required to take an initiation oath. The oath included five basic principles, upon which the mafia was (and still is) based:
1. A code of silence - Never to "rat out" any mafia member. Never to divulge any mafia secrets. Even if they were threatened by torture or death.
2. Complete obedience to the boss - Obey the boss's orders, no matter what.
3. Assistance - To provide any necessary assistance to any other respected or befriended mafia faction.
4. Vengeance - Any attacks on family members must be avenged. "An attack on one is an attack on all."
5. Avoid contact with the authorities.
The mafia grew large and strong by the 19th century. By then it had become a vast criminally oriented society. They followed their own authority and rules and ignored any other form of order. Joining the mafia was like joining a religion. It was a commitment for life. You could not retire from it (and this still holds true today.) This was a serious "religion", even for the very young mafia members. They were taught basic uses of the sword, knife, and rope, in order to be able to murder their victims. It would be a very violent death to anyone who became an informant.
The American branch of the mafia, named "La Costra Nostra" (LCN), is believed to have begun in 1893 when Don Vito Cascio Ferro fled to New York after the murder of banker Emanuele Notarbartolo, in Sicily. More Mafioso fled to America during the 1920's, when Mussolini attempted to exterminate the mafia in Sicily. The mafia saw lucrative opportunities in the United States. Thousands of gunmen and thieves came over. They were joined by thousands of Italians and Sicilians who were looking for a better life in America.
By the early 1900's every large city in the United States had its own mafia sanction. They concentrated on protection rackets. Soon they expanded by racketeering in other areas, such as gambling, prostitution, and bootlegging. The Prohibition era (in the 20's) is probably the most legendary era in gangster history. Mafia members basically declared their power and wealth openly. The mob flourished. This began Al Capone's reign, (as portrayed in the movie, The Untouchables.) Alphonso Capone, "Scarface", was a gangster in Chicago who amassed a fortune by selling alcohol and women. He also controlled every possible aspect of crime. Capone was sent to Alcatraz in 1931, not for various killings and breaking the 18th amendment, but for income tax evasion.
When Capone was sent away, Chicago's "gangster" image began to fade. New York became the next big mafia city - the city for the next generation of gangsters. Once prohibition ended, gangsters reorganized themselves in "syndicates" or organizations which controlled gambling and prostitution, the distribution of drugs and new forms of "business."
After Capone's time a new gangster surfaced, Salvatore Lucania, better known as, Charlie 'Lucky" Luciano, or "Boss of the Bosses" (Cappo di tutti cappi.) Unlike Capone, who only associated with Italians and Sicilians, Lucky Luciano was ethnically liberal. He began to recruit Jews in his organization. (Similar to the movie, Casino.) Luciano was close to his partners Benjamin "Bugsey" Siegel and Meyer Lansky. Bugsey Siegel built a super-casino in Las Vegas, but was murdered before it became profitable. Within ten years of his death, Las Vegas became the major powerhouse for gangster dealings, investments, and skimmings.
Luciano's gangs were always in conflict with the "pure Sicilian" gangs of Giuseppe Masseria, "Joe the Boss" (the first boss of what is now known as the Genovese family) and Salvatore Maranzano (head of the now Bonanno family), from the other side of New York. Luciano finally defeated Masseria after many "mafia wars" known as the Castellamarse Wars. Luciano took over Masseria's organization and became a powerful boss.
Before Masseria died, he took a man named Carlo Gambino into his group. When Masseria was killed, Gambino shifted power under Salvatore Maranzano. However, it was a short stay for him. Maranzano died, Joe Bonanno succeeded him, and Carlo Gambino decided to join a new commission, the "Young Turks." Gambino, along with his brothers-in-law Peter and Paul Castellano, became united with Vincent Mangano. When Mangano mysteriously disappeared, Gambino pushed for an alliance (peace agreement) with Charlie Luciano and his associate Frank Costello.
After Mangano's disappearance, Albert Anastasia became the boss and appointed Carlo Gambino a boss, but no one took this seriously. Gambino was, at that time, considered weak, taking put downs and ridicule from Anastasia. No other mafia member would have taken the abuse. Nobody thought of Gambino as a threat, at that time, which made it very easy for him to do unexpected things.
In 1957, a man named Vito Genovese approached Gambino about getting rid of Anastasia. This would give Gambino top spot. Fed up with Anastasia, Gambino did away with him. However, he could not stop there. Genovese was power hungry. He wanted to rule all the families. He became ruthless and over-zealous. Gambino knew he had to put a stop to him before he got totally out of hand. Together with his new allies, Luciano and Costello, Gambino set up Genovese in a narcotics scheme that landed him in prison, sentenced to fifteen years.
Gambino continued to avoid the F.B.I. and C.I.A. Every time they tried to deport him or put him on trial he would have a heart attack or somehow end up in the hospital. It was an ingenious plan!
On the other side of New York, the Bonanno family didn't have much luck avoiding the authorities. Bonanno member Philip "Rusty" Rastelli succeeded Carmine Galanto as boss. Two of Rastelli's top men were Dominick "Sonny Black" Napolitano and Benjamin "Lefty Guns" Ruggiero. They were portrayed in the movie, Donnie Brasco, which was based on the true story of undercover F.B.I. agent, Joe Pistone ("Donnie Brasco".) Crimes committed by "Sonny Black" and "Lefty Guns" were exposed. "Sonny Black" disappeared and "Lefty" went to prison.
During the early 1970's, Joseph Colombo, head of the Profaci family, began bringing unwanted national attention to the mob and those associated with it, by starting the Italian American Civil Rights League (IACRL). Carlo Gambino confronted Colombo and asked him to stop the rallies because of the media attention it was developing. Colombo refused. As the story goes, Colombo actually spit in Gambino's face. This infuriated Gambino. He approached the Gallo brothers (Joe and Larry) to do away with Colombo. He wanted them to kill him at a nationally covered IACRL rally, in order to express what will happen if you cross Gambino, and to ironically exhibit the association of violence and the Italian-American heritage - the very heritage that Colombo was supporting through rallies. It was vengeance and punishment for disrespecting a don.
At the end of his life, Gambino appointed Paul Castellano as the new head of the family. Castellano was greedy and was disliked. This caused conflict amongst Gambino's men. Castellano walked around more like a banker than a mobster. Gambino thought it was a good idea to move the family into legitimate business, away from the streets. In 1985, Castellano was killed by another young Turk, John Gotti, (a disciple of Dellacrose, boss under Anastasia who was skipped over when Anastasia was ousted by Gambino.) Gotti was as loud and media exposed as anyone the mafia had seen since Albert Anastasia.
John Gotti was known as the "Teflon Don" for his three separate trial acquittals in the late 80's. Finally, in 1991, the F.B.I. indicted Gotti, his underboss - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, and Frankie Locascio on racketeering and murder conspiracy charges. Gravano shocked everyone when he broke the omerta and testified against Gotti. Gravano was placed into witness protection and served less than five years. John Gotti is serving a life sentence in a federal prison in Illinois. His son, John Gotti Jr., is currently acting as boss of the Gambino crime family. However, a RICO case has been developed against him.
So, there you have the true story of the mafia. Still a little confused? Maybe this will clear things up: There are currently five families in the New York City outfit of La Costra Nostra (LCN). They are: Gambino, Genovese, Colombo,Bonanno, and Luchese. Salvatore D'Aquila (murdered 1928)
Frank Scalise (boss until 1931)
Vincent Mangano (through 1951)
Albert Anastasia (to 1957)
Carlo Gambino (to 1976)
Paul Castellano (murdered 1985)
John Gotti (jail 1992)
John Gotti Jr. (Present)
Giuseppe "Joe the Boss" Masseria (killed 1931)
Charlie "Lucky" Luciano (back to Italy 1936)
Frank Costello
Vito Genovese (murdered 1959)
"Three Man Ruling Council" Tommy Eboli, Jerry Catena, Mike Miranda (to 1972)
Frank Funzi Tieri (died 1981)
Anthony "Fat Tony" Salerno (jail 1987)
Vincent "The Chin" Gigante (to prison)
Liborio "Barney" Bellomo (jailed)
Dominick "Quiet Dom" Cirillo (acting boss for Gigante)
Joe Profaci (1930 - 1962)
Joseph Magliocco (died 1963)
Joe Colombo (killed 1978)
Joseph Yacovelli (to 1973)
Joseph Brancato (jailed 1973)
Thomas DiBella (to 1978)
Split into 2 factions - Mid 80's
| |
Carmine Persico | Vic Orena |
| |
(Members of each faction started killing each other - "The Colombo War") |
Cola Schiro - to 1930
Salvatore Maranzano - murdered in 1931
Joe Bonanno -to 1964, broke Omerta
Frank LaBruzzo - 1966
Gaspare DiGregoria - 1968
Paul Sciacca
Ruling Council of "Rusty" Rastelli, Joe Zicarelli, Joe DiFillippi, and Natale Evolia- 3 years
Natale Evola - sole boss, 1 year
"Rusty" Rastelli - late 1973 to 1974, incarcerated
Carmine Galante - 1979 murdered
Bonavventre - youngest boss at 24 years old
"Rusty" Rastelli - regained power, out of jail {His aides were "Sonny Black" and "Lefty Guns" (Donnie Brasco)}
Joey Massino - still in control
Gaetano Reina - 1930
Gaetano Gagliano - 1930-1953
Gaetano "Thomas" Luchese - 1953-1967 {He worked closely with Gambino and his family. One of his capos was Paul Vario, who is portrayed as the character, Paul Ciceroin the movie, Goodfellas}
Carmine Tramunti - 1967 - 7 years, than prison
Anthony Corallo "Tony Ducks" - 1986 died
Vittorio Amuso - 1992, RICO
Alphonse "Little Al" D'Arco
Joe DeFrede
MAFIA FAMILY STRUCTURE
The Commission - National ruling body of "La Costra Nostra". Usually has 9 to 12 bosses.
Capo Crimini - Boss or "don". Head of a particular family.
Consigliere - advisor or family counselor.
Capo Bastone or Sotto Capo - the "underboss", second in command.
Contabile - financial advisor.
Caporegime - heads a faction of about 10 foot soldiers.
Sgarrista - foot soldier {carries out the usual "business" of the mafia}.
Giovane d'honore - mafia associate, mostly non-italian, non-sicilian.
REFERENCES
http://murderinc.com/fam/gamb.html
http://crimelibrary.com/john/johnmain.htm
http://users.nni.com/goodfellas/history.html
http://www.let.ruu.nl/ams/xroads/crime.htm
http://www.alternatives.com.80/crime/italmaf.html
http://theitalianmob.8m.com
Albanese, Jay S. Organized Crime in America (1985), Anderson Publishing Company.
Bardsley, Marilyn John Gotti: Clenched Fist (1998), Darkhorse Multimedia, Inc.
Organized Crime (1963), The Macmillan Company.
