MAFIA

OR

THE MORAL SEPARATISM OF SICILIANS

The American public is convinced that all over the United States there exists a very well organized association of criminals called Mafia, composed of Italians. Instead, according to the experts, this association is composed mostly of people of Sicilian origin and not Italians in general. Complaints and protestations about this generalization by Italian American newspapers and organizations of descendants of Italians have had no effect whatsoever; first of all, because Italian Americans are not as well organized and powerful as, for instance, the Jews; second, because the Italian-language press has limited circulation and practically no influence in society at large; and finally, because Italian American associations lack in members and resources. But, to top it all, these protestations have little or no credibility because Italian Americans have never denounced, or manifested their opposition to, or distanced themselves from the various local versions of Mafias in their backyards. There has never been a campaign in the Italian language press; there has never been a public meeting; there has never been an Italian American judge or a political leader at the head of a movement who fought and denounced those among them who victimized—first of all—the Italian communities, even before they victimized American society. The proof is in a book by Frederic Sondern,[1] also available in Italian. This book can be called the first public indictment against Sicilians by a branch of the Federal Department of Narcotics[2] [sic]. This special federal unit has always maintained that the American criminal underworld is organized along racial lines and that the entire organization is headed by a group of Sicilians. This transpires quite clearly from the deposition of Carlo Siragusa, a special agent in the narcotic squad, in front of the Kefauver[3] Investigation Committee[4] [sic]. Siragusa is of Sicilian descent and has sworn war against his country fellowmen who dishonor the island and who, in his opinion, are the minds of history’s largest criminal enterprise ever. This organization concentrates its dominance in the United States but extends its tentacles on the international stage, from Turkey and Syria to Italy and France. From the Al Capone era, when criminals were at most operating on a national scale, we have moved to the [Lucky] Luciano era, with an international dimension. The world has shrunk in size not only for good but also for evil. Airplanes that carry medicines that save people in far away lands are also used for the drug trade that poisons the young. Progress is progress also for crime.

The stories narrated in this very interesting book come from the archives of the FBI, from the Narcotic Department, the IRS, the Secret Service and the Postal Police. All these organizations operate with secret agents that are independent of   local state governments and are therefore considered immune from political pressure, particularly from elected state attorney generals. They are the most respected and most feared law enforcement agencies, with great resources, and shielded even from pressures from Congress. This book isn’t particularly sensationalistic, but exactly for this reason it has caused enormous sensation. The raw material is pretty well known already but the fact that it is confirmed through the depositions of federal authorities makes it that more striking. Even the Kefauver investigation almost disappears when compared with the details of these stories. The most important aspect of this documentation is that it refutes the Kefauver investigation’s thesis about Mafia as the center of organized crime in the United States. This theory was based on the hypothesis that Mafia, at least from a law enforcement perspective, was structured like a regular corporation, with a chairman and regular meetings. The report, to the contrary, concedes that nothing of that sort exists. What really exists, according to the writer, is an association of Sicilian families that exploits the environment by means of the systematic violation of the law. Their common characteristics are cohesion, discipline, intelligence and a basic philosophy. (I am using the word philosophy in the American sense, meaning a certain concept of life.) These families utilize all the guarantees that American law has put in place to protect the innocent, and use them skillfully to avoid the punishment they deserve. The problem, thus, is not in the actions of certain individuals: it is in the habits, mentality and identity of a group of Sicilians who live in a state of semi-isolation in the United States.

What are the fundamental characteristics of these Mafiosi? The book emphasizes, in particular, the tight cohesion within each family. These are strong, proud and hard-working people. The women are taught to understand, forgive and ignore the lifestyle of their men, be they fathers, brothers or husbands. Even when their dignity and feelings are offended by marital infidelity, they would never turn to the police. They are excellent cooks and devoted mothers.

If the family becomes rich—and it happens quite often—they don’t seek social recognition. Their tendency is to stay in a separate world. They only visit with family members and trusted friends. They don’t commingle with neighbors, and social relations with the outside world are limited to the minimum necessary. When they are arrested they are always courteous: they smile, bow and immediately ask to see a lawyer. Their fundamental rule of life is a very strong sense of self-control. In general they are not ostentatious with their wealth: they are happy dressing modestly, living in two-storey detached single-family homes furnished in the style of the European middle class of fifty years ago. Only when it comes to cars they choose luxury brands, like every other solid American businessman. They are usually good family men, they don’t get drunk and they attend mass at the local parish church to which they give generously. They are always willing to do favors for people in power and then they return inside their protective shell.

The bosses command respect even when they end up behind bars. This phenomenon has been observed also in Italian prisons: lower-rank Mafiosi take care of their bosses as if they were domestic servants. Predominance is not acquired by means of a popularity contest. It is earned. The implicit hierarchy among Mafia members is not communicated by secret handshakes or special signals. Rather, it’s a matter of intuition and instinct and it reflects control over a network of common acquaintances. The most appreciated quality is secrecy, particularly with law enforcement. The infraction to the rule of silence is punished with the harshest retaliation. There is also a very strong sense of brotherhood among members so that when a member is put away in prison his family is adequately provided for in all its needs. Though they were once migrants now they don’t like to travel much. They don’t stray far from a thin strip on the Mediterranean Sea in Sicily or their new residences in the United States. Their business model is based on extracting a profit from transactions centered on illegal goods and services. The golden age of Mafia was the era of Prohibition when a large portion of the population was implicitly supporting its activities. With alcohol trafficking also came gambling and prostitution. Law enforcement forces have also investigated Mafia’s infiltration into legitimate activities, such as the trade unions; distribution networks of alcoholic beverages [after Prohibition]; import of Italian products, in particular cheese, oil and canned tomatoes; control of wholesale fish and fresh produce markets; bakeries; distribution and servicing of jukeboxes; management of restaurants, pizzerias, coffee shops and night clubs. In many cases these activities operate legally and are headed by professional managers, in other cases they serve as covers for much more lucrative illegal trafficking. The most important decisions, such as eliminating traitors or dividing up the territory among competitors, are administered by a council in the course of secret meetings. Only one of these meetings has ever been discovered, in the town of Apalachin in the mountains of northern New York State. The discovery was in part the result of the determination and curiosity of a local police officer who wanted to find out the source of wealth of an Italian resident, Joseph “Joe the Barber” Barbara,[5] who was living in a villa with a lavish lifestyle and no visible means of support. About seventy Mafiosi were interrogated by federal authorities who, in the end, could not find a single compromising piece of evidence. All the suspects declined to answer questions, pleading the protection of the Fifth Amendment which guarantees the right against self-incrimination. Many of them came forth with the same identical excuse: they stopped by Mr. Barbara’s villa on a courtesy call and spent time with him enjoying the landscape and playing cards.

According to the book, the favorite setup for the quick and unexpected execution of traitors is often during a banquet with other members of the brotherhood: surrounded by Italian wine and large portions of pasta, the victim is taken care of discretely, and the body later dumped in a remote location. In reality, though, the modes of execution have been quite varied depending on the circumstances. Albert Anastasia[6] was gunned down while sitting in a barber chair in a fancy hotel. Al Capone lined up his enemies against a wall in a car garage.[7] The victims thought they were being frisked and robbed by police agents; instead they ended up shot in the back by a machine gun fusillade. Some of these scenes appear in the movie Some Like it Hot,[8] with Marilyn Monroe[9] (with the exception of the Italian gangsters’ scenes, it is one of the most idiotic products ever to come out of Hollywood.) The initial scene of the film refers to the Chicago massacre I just mentioned. Another movie I am familiar with is based on a banquet of Italian mobsters in Florida. In the course of the meeting of a fictional Italian opera house society five traitors are executed. The first scene is extremely realistic while the second is definitely humorous with the chairman giving a speech in pidgin English. Meanwhile, at this time, a new film is being shot on the life of Al Capone, who already was the subject of previous films such as Little Caesar[10] (1931) with Edward G. Robinson[11] and Scarface[12](1932), starring Paul Muni.[13] I am mentioning these movies to illustrate how vivid the Mafia phenomenon still appears to be in the American collective imagination.

Sicilians in general are very upset with the Sondern book despite the fact that the writer acknowledges with great clarity that the overwhelming majority of Sicilians are honest people who have contributed mightily to building this country. But he also confronts the nagging problem I mentioned at the beginning: “How come these good and brave people did not show any kind of initiative against the black sheep in their midst, unlike the Anglo-Saxon communities? Why didn’t they protest and resist, even resorting to violence, against a few bandits that were exploiting them?” The writer quotes the answer of a prestigious—albeit unnamed—member of the community who explains that silence is caused by fear. To me, it is an excuse even worse than the sin itself.

Should some of my readers be offended, I shall also report that the Sondern books talks at length in an admiring tone about the intelligence and the abilities of the top Italian crime figures in the United States. Al Capone invented the concept of criminal operations on a national base. “This short, ugly man, with a powerful body and enormous energy, had incredible managerial creativity. If he was operating in a normal environment he would have become the leader of a large American corporation (...) His organization was a model of efficiency.” Al Capone, incidentally, was not Sicilian,[14] unlike Lucky Luciano who is from Lercara Friddi in the province of Palermo. Also Sicilian was Luciano’s mentor don Giuseppe Masseria,[15] “a first-class businessman, with leadership skills.” Sicily was also the land of origin of Giuseppe Lanza,[16] “an organizer with immense energy who dominated the fish market.” The psychological portraits of Sicilian crime figures in the United States correspond to a large degree to what we also observe in Italy. However, the thesis presented in the book, according to which the roots of the criminal mind are in the family history, doesn’t hold water. There is no proof that these criminals came from dynasties of felons. One should always bear in mind that the United States has been host to several organized crime syndicates that have no connections with Sicilians. For instance Meyer Lansky,[17] Wady David,[18] Louis Buchalter,[19] Abner Zwillman[20] and Abe Reles[21] were all members of gangs that either cooperated or were in direct competition with the Sicilian Mafia. And finally, how can anyone talk about Mafia as if it were a single entity while the author himself, in every page of this book, shows that among the Sicilians there were constant fights, turf battles and personal rivalries? Masseria was killed to clear the way for a younger competitor. Frank Costello was the target of an assassination attempt caused probably by disagreements on splitting booty. Albert Anastasia was killed after trying to take over a territory controlled by Cubans. Any honest historian will recognize that there have been several Mafias, some of which composed largely of Sicilians. However, there has never been one Mafia that controls and dominates all others.

In the end the writer unfortunately reveals poor knowledge of things Italian. Italian words are often misspelled; glaring errors of geography and history keep appearing, as, for instance, the peculiar assertion that “in 1925 Mussolini decided that Sicily would become the political and intellectual center of the Fascist empire in the Mediterranean.” So many absurdities in so few words! All in all, though, one should not judge the book based on these or other blunders. The relevant aspect is the research based on documents from the archives of various federal agencies. For instance, the book reports an anecdote about the gangster Eugenio Giannini[22] (not a Sicilian name, by the way). Siragusa met with him in Milan in a hotel near Piazza del Duomo[23] while he was in the company of an alleged countess. Giannini had arranged the meeting to sell information to the American agent during a visit to Italy whose purpose was to organize the purchase and shipment of cocaine to the United States. Very interesting indeed.

April 5, 1959