WI: Jewish Mob Holds On?

[Polyphemus]

At one time, and especially during Prohibition, Jewish-American gangs were one of the premier forces in American organized crime. Major cities were ruled behind the scenes by men with names like Cohen, Rothstein, Lansky, Blumenfeld, and Zwillman. However, their fortunes declined throughout the 40s and 50s and they were largely supplanted by Italian organized crime. While a small handful of Jewish-American gangsters still operate in New York, it is barely a fraction of the nation-spanning empire that once existed. As an American Jew I find this a fascinating and forgotten chapter in our history, one that has been (understandably) buried by the Jewish-American community.

This raises some fascinating questions. What are some specific or general PODs that might allow the organization to flourish to this day? What position do you see them holding in more diverse modern crime? And how does this affect the perception of American Jews?

 

[Charles EP M.]

My understanding is the Jewish and Italian mobs teamed up a lot in various places, so what you'd need is them to be at odds and wikipedia points me to:

Luciano successfully eliminated the Old World Sicilian Mafia bosses like Joe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzano in the 1931 Castellammarese War and took control of the New York Italian Mafia. Luciano did not discriminate against Jews and valued longtime associates such as Meyer Lansky and Benjamin 'Bugsy' Siegel. Several Jewish gangsters such as Red Levine and Bo Weinberg were used in the war as unsuspected non-Italian hitmen.[16] After Masseria and Maranzano were murdered, a conference was held at New York's Franconia Hotel on November 11, 1931 which included Jewish mobsters such as Jacob Shapiro, Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, Joseph "Doc" Stacher, Hyman "Curly" Holtz, Louis "Shadows" Kravitz, Harry Tietlebaum, Philip "Little Farvel" Kovolick and Harry "Big Greenie" Greenberg. During this meeting, Luciano and Lansky convinced the Jewish-American mobsters of the benefits of cooperating with the Italian-American Mafia in a newly created consortium called the National Crime Syndicate by the press. At the meeting's conclusion, "Bugsy" Siegel supposedly declared "The yids and the dagos will no longer fight each other."[23][page needed]

Probably not hard to stop this happening - Luciano might not be in charge, or not enough of the Jewish mob leaders are convinced to buddy up, or antisemitism halts it early, or Luciano & a Jewish leader fall out, or Luciano grows up more antisemitic than OTL. Then Jewish mobsters are going to stay bonded to each other primarily, there's more Jewish-only gangs and they're more tight-night, so even if they decline they're not fully going away.

IIRC the traditional mafia is still around in the US but a shadow of its former self, supplanted by newer mobs, so I'd assume that also happens to Jewish mobs - though I guess they could also get a boost from Eastern European Jewish immigration, extra people with precarious incomes to recruit/shakedown

 

[Polyphemus]

Probably not hard to stop this happening - Luciano might not be in charge, or not enough of the Jewish mob leaders are convinced to buddy up, or antisemitism halts it early, or Luciano & a Jewish leader fall out, or Luciano grows up more antisemitic than OTL. Then Jewish mobsters are going to stay bonded to each other primarily, there's more Jewish-only gangs and they're more tight-night, so even if they decline they're not fully going away.

That's a great observation. I think you're right on the money with Luciano and Lansky falling out, thus preventing the Fraconia meeting from happening.

Maybe postwar, instead of getting into gambling like the Italian-dominated syndicates did at the time, the Jewish mobsters instead invest in narcotics? If they establish contacts in fledgling Israel that might lead them to Turkish opium, thus creating their own version of the French Connection a decade ahead of schedule.

 

[Polyphemus]

An interesting butterfly occurred to me for the above scenario- without Bugsy Siegel getting involved Las Vegas is probably a forgotten desert village. Reno might take its place as a gambling and vacation capital instead, with the Italian mob choosing to invest more heavily in a more established city.

 

[neonduke]

The golden age of porn boom was kickstarted by Italian mob money but a good number of the 42nd Street burlesques and porn theatres in New York were Jewish owned, maybe the Jewish mob could get a stranglehold on the vice trade?

 

[Charles EP M.]

I wonder if you can fully replicate the Las Vegas 'experience' in the long-term in a established city, or if it gets pushed back on because that's where people already live and not a glittering prefab carnival land you travel to?

 

[Charles EP M.]

A random thought now: what happens with American comics? DC and Charlton and I believe Tower Comics were all mob-owned at some point (DC twice as IIRC the mafia briefly had a big shareholder interest in Warner), the newsstands and distributor were very mob-owned to the point where some early direct-market sellers were visited by very big lads, and basically lucked out that comics weren't selling enough for the mafia to care beyond the bare minimum. But comics also had a large number of Jewish creators back in the day - both big creators & editors and Marvel's original owner, Martin Goodman.

Does a still-established Jewish mob get involved in this in some way? Does Timely/Marvel spend time as a launderer after Goodman gets an "offer"?

 

[Polyphemus]

The golden age of porn boom was kickstarted by Italian mob money but a good number of the 42nd Street burlesques and porn theatres in New York were Jewish owned, maybe the Jewish mob could get a stranglehold on the vice trade?

Oh, that's a good thought, didn't even occur to me. They might be even more successful in Midwestern cities like Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Detroit- all of which had prominent Jewish mobsters but were historically, ahem, underserved in the adult entertainment market.

I wonder if you can fully replicate the Las Vegas 'experience' in the long-term in a established city, or if it gets pushed back on because that's where people already live and not a glittering prefab carnival land you travel to?

That is a good thought. Reno was already known as the "divorce capital" by the end of WWII and gambling was legal. It already had a reputation for seediness and locals might resist piling on that with more gaudy casinos and clubs. Or maybe it goes the other direction and they try to create a more family-friendly vibe to attract tourists. Something like today's Vegas, where the kids can catch a magic show while the parents gamble.

Another possibility is the Italian mob doubles down on one of their favorite resorts already in operation- Hot Springs, Arkansas. Maybe they apply pressure to the AR state legislature to legalize gambling.

Heck, why not both? I can envision the US having three mob-controlled gambling hotspots in this situation: Reno, Hot Springs, and Atlantic City. Serving both coasts and the central region.

You've all got me rambling on about something that interest me, lol.

 

[Polyphemus]

A random thought now: what happens with American comics? DC and Charlton and I believe Tower Comics were all mob-owned at some point (DC twice as IIRC the mafia briefly had a big shareholder interest in Warner), the newsstands and distributor were very mob-owned to the point where some early direct-market sellers were visited by very big lads, and basically lucked out that comics weren't selling enough for the mafia to care beyond the bare minimum. But comics also had a large number of Jewish creators back in the day - both big creators & editors and Marvel's original owner, Martin Goodman.

Does a still-established Jewish mob get involved in this in some way? Does Timely/Marvel spend time as a launderer after Goodman gets an "offer"?

I didn't know that! I'll have to do some reading.

Gut reaction is that it can go one of two ways. Scenario One: Like you mentioned, some of the real giants were Jewish. Kirby, Lee, Kane, Siegel, etc. Maybe a Jewish mob, interested in a sort of patronage to influence public opinion (or even genuine altruism) helps give the careers of Jewish artists a push.

Scenario Two: increased perception of "Jews as criminals" leads to even more anti-Semitism and prevents them from gaining an artistic foothold in the industry.

 

[neonduke]

Oh, that's a good thought, didn't even occur to me. They might be even more successful in Midwestern cities like Cleveland, Minneapolis, and Detroit- all of which had prominent Jewish mobsters but were historically, ahem, underserved in the adult entertainment market.

Interestingly according to the director (and Irish Mob affiliate) Phil Prince the Italian and Irish Mobs had a fairly good working relationship when it came to the sex and porn trade. Indeed they even took a vote on putting a hit on Rudy Giuliani when he was a crusading DA trying to clean up Times Square, the Italians votes No as they were sure they would be blamed and cracked down upon.

If you have a stronger Jewish mob in place in the Times Square skintrade you have the possibility it's they who team up with the Irish, that would be a significant powerblock in opposition to the Italians.

 

[Polyphemus]

Interestingly according to the director (and Irish Mob affiliate) Phil Prince the Italian and Irish Mobs had a fairly good working relationship when it came to the sex and porn trade. Indeed they even took a vote on putting a hit on Rudy Giuliani when he was a crusading DA trying to clean up Times Square, the Italians votes No as they were sure they would be blamed and cracked down upon.

If you have a stronger Jewish mob in place in the Times Square skintrade you have the possibility it's they who team up with the Irish, that would be a significant powerblock in opposition to the Italians.

Yeah, historically the Irish mob has been something of a wild card so this seems plausible. If I ever do write something up with this idea, probably won't limit myself to just New York. It might vary from city to city- just as a historical example Irish and Jewish mobsters worked together in St. Louis but clashed violently in Cleveland.

Another possibility, especially if they're bringing heroin like suggested earlier, is that they do outreach to Asian gangs decades before the Italian mob even considered it. The Tongs had their own reliable but small-scale opium sources and operations in place since the 1870s, it's not implausible for the Jewish mob to seek technical or distribution assistance.

 

[Oppo]

There are a number of PODs that could result in greater anti-Semitism in the 1940s - a few examples include a Soviet-aligned Israel, the Nakam poisoning plot succeeding, or Lehi successfully assassinating Truman. If the nation is paranoid about Jewish people and their businesses fall under attack, the mob becomes a natural form of protection.

Early Cold War foreign policy could also be responsible for a Jewish-Italian split. The mafia was involved in Italian coup plots IOTL, and in a scenario with a PCI victory, they could very well put a right-wing junta into power. If Israel is a pro-Soviet nation, I don’t imagine the Jewish mafia will be very happy about the Sicilians working with the CIA. A breaking point could involve the Italian junta seizing the Jewish mob’s financial/military aid to Israel.

 

[Creekmench]

Lehi killing the President leading to the Labor Zionist Government getting closer to the Warsaw Pact would work and be an interesting TL in of itself. I don't see Israel copying Soviet Communism but as a Pink Finland on the Med. This may butterfly the Doctors Plot, and have large effects on arab nationalism.

 

[Polyphemus]

Another quick thought as regards butterflies: earlier I posited a scenario where the French Connection is never set up. Historically the Corsican gangs responsible for heroin smuggling into the US were given leeway by French police in exchange for using their trade union contacts to suppress leftist movements.

Maybe it's too much of a stretch, but without that revenue those gangs might not be able to fulfill that duty and lead to more left-wing politicians getting a foothold in Cold War France?