1943 in organized crime

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See also: 1942 in organized crime, other events of 1943, 1944 in organized crime and the list of 'years in Organized Crime'.

Contents

[edit] Events

  • The US Military grants Sicilian mafioso Michele Navarra permission to collect up abandoned military vehicles left by the Italian army during the allied invasion of Sicily in the second World War.
  • January 11 - Carlo Tresca, editor of the Socialist Italian-language newspaper Il Martello, is murdered in Manhattan after seeking political asylum in the United States. Tresca's assassination, supposedly carried out by mobster Carmine Galante, was said to have been arranged by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist government.
  • January 25 - New York mobster Gaetano Lucchese becomes a naturalized US citizen.
  • February 2 - Chicago's "Queen of the Dice Girls", Estelle Carey, is found brutally murdered and burned, possibly in connection to the Hollywood extortion scandal then under federal investigation.
  • March 18 - Several high ranking members of the Chicago Outfit including Frank Nitti, Paul Ricca, Phil D'Andrea, Charles Gioe, Lou Kaufman, Louis Campagna and John Roselli are indicted by a federal grand jury in connection to extortion operations against Hollywood studios by William Morris Bioff.
  • March 19 - Shortly after being indicted, Chicago Outfit leader Frank Nitti commits suicide near a Riverside, Illinois railyard, due to Underboss Paul Ricca's insistence Nitti take responsibility for the extortion operation and serve the prison term. Tony Accardo succeeds Nitti as leader of the organization following their indictment.
  • July 9-10 - The Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) ending August 17 in an Allied victory. Sicilian Mafia boss Calogero Vizzini allegedly helped the American army during the invasion. In the US, the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) had recruited Mafia support to protect the New York waterfront from Axis Powers sabotage since the US had entered the war in December 1941. The ONI collaborated with Lucky Luciano and his partner Meyer Lansky, a Jewish mobster, in what was called Operation Underworld. The resulting Mafia contacts were also used by the US Office of Strategic Services (OSS) – the wartime predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) – during the invasion of Sicily. Popular myth has it that a US Army airplane had flown over Vizzini’s home town Villalba on the day of the invasion and dropped a yellow silk handkerchief marked with a black L (indicating Luciano). Two days later, three American tanks rolled into Villalba after driving thirty miles through enemy territory. Vizzini climbed aboard and spent the next six days traveling through western Sicily organizing support for the advancing American troops. As General Patton's Third Division moved onward the signs of its dependence on Mafia support were obvious to the local population. The Mafia protected the roads from snipers, arranged enthusiastic welcomes for the advancing troops, and provided guides through the confusing mountain terrain. [1][2] Many historians are inclined to dismiss this legend nowadays. The American Military Government of Occupied Territories (AMGOT) looking for anti-fascist notables to replace fascist authorities made Don Calogero Vizzini mayor of Villalba, as well as a Honorary Colonel of the US Army. Because of his excellent connections, Vizzini also became the ‘king’ of the rampant post-war black market.[2] AMGOT relied on mafiosi who were considered staunch anti-fascists because of the repression under Mussolini. Many other mafiosi, such as Calogero Vizzini and Giuseppe Genco Russo, were appointed as mayors of their own home towns. Coordinating the AMGOT effort was the former lieutenant-governor of New York, Colonel Charles Poletti, whom Luciano once described as "one of our good friends."
  • October 28 - Former leader of the New Orleans crime family Carlo Matranga dies in Los Angeles, California of natural causes.
  • December 22 - Paul Ricca, Louis Campagna, John Roselli and four other defendants are convicted of extortion with each fined $10,000 and receiving prison sentences ranging from 7 to 10 years.

[edit] Arts and literature

[edit] Births

  • Tino Fiumara "George Grecco", New Jersey waterfront labor union racketeer

[edit] Deaths

[edit] References

  1. ^ Hoodlums & History, Time Magazine, August 5, 1966, review of the book "The Mafia and Politics" by Michele Pantaleone.
  2. ^ a b The Mafia Restored: Fighters for Democracy in World War II, The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia, Alfred W. McCoy.
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