WOW!! I’m Italian and live on Staten Island.
my uncles in brookly grew up with a lot of those guys. Persico, Gambino associates, and a number of other guys in the five families.
Fascinating post by you. I could see Galante doing that.
I didn’t know mafia had part in invasion of Sicily and mainland. Wow.
I’m sure there was profit in it for them as they are ruthless.
They were much tougher back then, the gangsters i know on staten island are cruel but not so tough. and would squeal in a second to get out of jail.
i try not to think of my ancestors’ past as socialists in america. And anarchists.
I’m glad Italian Americans are a conservative base now.
Wild story you have. If you have more, i would love to hear, if you’re too busy now, at another time!!
Sicilians despise Americans (I learned that firsthand) because Mussolini had wisely wiped out the Mafia but we turned to the American Mafia to grease the way into Italy for the invasion. After the war, of course, the Sicilians were left with a revival of the Mafia. (I’m not a student of this so I’m taking shortcuts). Of course, I would counter, that Sicily and Italy supported the murderous Mussolini and possibly deserved much of what they got. But the present-day mafia in Sicily should burn in hell for the havoc they have created on that beautiful island.
I would recommend the wonderful book “All the Right Enemies” which is a study of the fascinatingly charming Carlo Tresca. His Wiki page says he supported Sacco & Vanzetti. He did, in fact, get them their amazing lawyer, Fred Moore, but he turned on those two with a vengeance. What a fascinating character!