Sandra Myers
The Kosher Nostra, Part 2: Gangsters for Zion

Sandra Myers - The Kosher Nostra, Part 2: Gangsters for Zion

- Good afternoon everybody, and welcome to my second part of The Kosher Nostra. This one is entitled Gangsters for Zion. For those of you who couldn’t listen to my presentation last week, I’ll just recap very briefly and set the scene for today’s talk. It was fundamentally the introduction of prohibition in 1920 in the United States, which offered, I hear the two inaccessible opportunity for young, impoverished Jewish boys, mostly children of Eastern European immigrants to make unimaginable fortunes. They saw the demand to supply illicit liquor as the chance to escape their overwhelmingly poverty stricken lives. By 1920, about 4% of the American population was Jewish, of which 1.6 million. Nearly half of the total were mostly recent immigrants. They lived in the crowded and poorest areas of the cities, mostly on New York’s Lower East Side. Many of the young Jewish boys, some no more than teenagers and already gang members now migrated to Detroit, to Chicago, to Minneapolis. And in a very short space of time, set up their bootlegging and smuggling operations. So efficient were they that the Jewish gang soon constituted 50% of the major black marketeers, the remainder being mostly under the control of the Sicilian Mafia and some Irish. The boys soon arranged themselves into efficient squads, which began hijacking, smuggling, and distilling liquor to supply a seemingly unquenchable demand. In the first year of prohibition, approximately 200,000 unlicensed saloons and speakeasy sprang up across the United States, and it seemed that anyone over the age of 13, now wanted to drink alcohol. Lauren, could we have the first photograph, please? This is a photograph of Arnold Rothstein who virtually controlled the entire criminal underworld at the time. He was neither a new immigrant, nor was he from an impoverished family.

He was well-dressed and a vain, moving effortlessly between the Italian mafia and the Jewish mob. It was Rothstein who put the organised into organised crime. Convincing the gangsters that it was in everyone’s best interests to bury their rivalry. He became the star of the underworld. He owned the largest gambling and bookmaking outfits as well as dealing in narcotics, smuggling and bootlegging. I’m sure a lot of you Americans would’ve heard from he was purported to have fixed the Black Sox baseball game in 1929, I think. In fact, Damon Runyon based his character of Nathan Detroit on him in “Guys and Dolls”. And also Scott Fitzgerald modelled the gambler, Meyer Wolfsheim, in “The Great Gatsby” on Rothstein. Unfortunately, the dapper Rothstein didn’t live long enough to enjoy his infamy nor his riches. He was shot dead in age 46 in 1928. Apparently over a gambling debt. Lingering for three days before he died, but never revealing his assassin. But I digress. So why is all this relevant? As I concluded last week… Could I have the photograph of Meyer Lansky, please? As I concluded last week, the American gangsters now found themselves with vast amounts of cash. Prohibition didn’t end until 1933 when the government acknowledged a shortfall of $11 billion in lost alcohol tax. With the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, a run on the banks resulted in acute shortage of bank notes. Businesses had little alternative other than to turn to the gangsters who now became loan sharks, charging exorbitant rates of interest. And I guess some penalties were even more penalising.

And here’s why probably, Meyer probably the best known gangster. Meyer Lansky, the mobs accountant comes into the picture. Lansky funnelled millions of dollars through bogus accounts in Switzerland, investing the now legitimised money on behalf of the mob into establishing casinos in Las Vegas and later in Cuba. In fact, the FBI was so convinced that Lansky had a huge fortune hint in the way himself. They pursued him for tax evasion for most of his life. But the repeal of prohibition in 1933 coincided with a far more sinister event in Germany, the nomination of Adolf Hitler as Wright chancellor and the beginning of the end for European Jewry. Despite most of the Jewish gangsters not being religious, when called upon to defend and protect their fellow Jews, they responded wholeheartedly, even enthusiastically in very much the same way as when young men, they had protected their poor immigrant families on the streets of New York. In 1930s, America, there was a huge tidal wave of antisemitism, particularly in the Midwest. Fueled by the rise of Nazism, the German-American bond was formed. An organisation of ethnic Germans to promote Germany. Rallies were convened with several churchmen, openly calling for Jews to be driven from positions of responsibility, if not totally driven out of the country. Naturally, this caused consternation amongst the Jewish community who were terrorised by the openly hostile display of the brown shirts in New York, and I think it was the silver shirts in Minneapolis. Minneapolis in particular had a long history of antisemitism and was one of the few American cities to successfully bar Jews from service clubs such as the Rotary, as well as minor public office. Older and more respectable Jewish organisations were in a dilemma. They didn’t know how to respond and obviously not wishing to alienate totally their non-Jewish supporters. I mentioned last week that even though they were desperate to stop these rallies, there was no legal means by which they were able to do so. It was left to a New York judge, and former Republican congressman, Nathan Perlman, to surreptitiously contact Meyer Lansky personally for help.

Lansky had no hesitation in agreeing, even refusing payment for his services. He made only one request. He asked Perlman to ensure that after he went into action, he would not be criticised by the Jewish press. The judge promised to do what he could, but unfortunately in the end, when the press reported these anti-banned activities and incidents, they referred to Lansky and his friends as Jewish gangsters. Lansky was really, really hurt by this, strangely enough, and he later, many years later, mused, they, meaning the community, wanted Nazis taken care of, but were afraid to do the job themselves. I did it for them, and when it was over, they called me a gangster. I did it for them, and no one had ever called me a gangster before until Rabbi Wise, Stephen Wise, whose dates were 1874 to 1949. I’m sure many of you in the United States are familiar with the name. And the Jewish leaders called me that. In fact, I think that probably Stephen Wise merits an entire lecture all to himself. But one interesting aside, his maternal grandfather founded Herend Porcelain. If you know, if anyone knows, that is his beautiful, beautiful German, Austrian-German porcelain. Other Jewish mobs needed little encouragement to follow Lansky’s example, and whenever and wherever there were bond rallies, they were soon disrupted. Longie Zwillman, who had influence with the New York Police Department for a while had advanced notice of meetings, and later on, there was help from New York’s mayor, one Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia. His dates were 1882 to 1947, and he was mayor of New York from 1934 until 1946. The one thing that he did do apart from any hills, he ensured that the police who guarded these Nazi rallies were both Black and Jewish.

So presumably they either stood aside when there was any action taken or participated in it. I don’t know. But anyway, LaGuardia, I also think merits a lecture to himself. Briefly, he was born in Greenwich Village to an immigrant Italian Catholic father, Achille. And his mother was Irene Luzzatto-Coen from Trieste. Then part of Austria and from a Sephardic Jewish family. LaGuardia himself was fluent in six languages, including Yiddish, Italian, German, French, Croatian, and Hungarian. And previous, prior to being mayor in New York, he actually served as an interpreter on Ellis Island. Other much needed help came from a young blind-eye Jewish boy by the name of Herb Brin, who worked as a crime reporter for the city press in Chicago. Towards the end of the 1930s, he joined the local Nazi parties as a spy for the Anti-Defamation League of the B'nai B'rith and passing valuable information on planning meetings. Could I have the next photo, please, Lauren? This is a gentleman by the name of Hillel Kook. Even before the United States was drawn into the war after the attack in Pearl Harbour, 1941, and before the full horror of the destruction of European Jewry could be imagined, a handful of young hardcore activists associated with the Zionist right-wing movement, the Irgun, arrived in America in 1940, hoping to create a Jewish army. Under the command of a Lithuanian born young man by the name of Hillel Kook. His dates were 1913 to 2001 who used the alias of Peter Bergson, primarily to avoid bringing attention to his family, particularly his uncle who was the first Ashkenazi chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine. Bergson intention was that this separate Jewish fighting force would consist of Palestinian Jews, stateless Jewish refugees, and Jews from non-belligerent nations who would fight alongside each other under Allied armies and their supreme control. Among their group were several members who later became well-known, including Aryeh Ben-Eliezer, who became a member of the Knesset.

Yitzhak Ben-Ami, who I will mention again later. And Eri Jabotinsky, who was the son of Ze'ev Jabotinsky. As well as two American members, the renowned screenwriter, Ben Hecht, and cartoonist Arthur Sych. Using whatever means at their disposal to publicise their intentions, the Bergson boys, as they became known, soon changed their focus as news of the atrocities in Europe, began to filter through to the United States. One story in particular prompted the group to publish an attention grabbing headline. It went, “For Sale to Humanity 70,000 Jews. Guaranteed Human Beings at $50 a Piece”. Now, what generated this headline? It came as a response to a report that the Romanian government was prepared to ship 70,000 Jews to a safe haven as long as the allies covered the expenses. This shocked the established American-Jewish leadership, Zionists included, who accused the Bergson boys of sensationalism and recklessness, and argued that foreigners had no mandate to speak for American Jews. Undeterred and helped by Ben Hecht, they mounted a huge pageant in New York City’s Madison Square Gardens. Could we have the video, please, Lauren? It was called “We Will Never Die”, and dedicated to the memory of the 2 million European Jews who had already been murdered. It just runs for a minute or so.

• [Host] The pageant “We Will Never Die”, is New York’s Jewish protest against Nazi massacre.

• 500 Of our women and children were led to the marketplace and stood against the vegetable stalls we knew so well. Here the Germans turned machine guns on us and killed us all. Remember us.

• [Host] And a great dramatic appeal is made as Paul Muni tells of Nazi crimes against helpless people.

• There are 4 million Jews surviving in Europe. The Germans have promised to deliver to the world by the end of the year, a Christmas package of 4 million dead Jews. And this is not a Jewish problem. It is a problem that belongs to humanity, and it is a challenge to the soul of man.

• [Host] Then a lament for 2 million people.

• Thank you, Lauren. 40,000 people were at the opening night, and it went on to play in five other major cities in the United States, including Washington, where Eleanor Roosevelt, six Supreme Court judges, and approximately 300 senators and congressmen watched. Despite all this, the pageant had little effect. However, the US government’s inaction, convinced the group they needed to step up their propaganda campaign and sought the support of influential public figures, including Mayor LaGuardia and William Randolph Hearst, to name but two. It was not until January, 1944 that President Roosevelt finally established the war refugee board, an agency charged with rescuing the victims of Nazi oppression. Probably in the end, it managed to save about 200,000 lives. Probably too little too late. But just as a footnote to the video, before Hecht actually mounted, before this was actually shown in Madison Square Garden, Hecht was contacted by Rabbi Wise. And I’m sure Rabbi Wise is very familiar, as I said before, just to most of you in the United States. Rabbi Wise then, head of the Jews of New York, head of the Zionists, and this is Ben Hecht speaking. And as I know from reading the papers, head of almost everything noble in American Jewry, telephoned me at the Alcon Quin Hotel, where I had pitched my Hebrew tent. Rabbi Wise, said he would like to see me immediately in his rectory. His voice, which was sonorous and impressive, irritated me. I have never known a man with a sonorous, an impressive voice who wasn’t either a conman or a bad actor. I explained, I was very busy and unable to step out of my hotel.

“Then I shall tell you now over the telephone what I had hoped to tell you in my study,” said Rabbi Wise. “I have read your pageant script and I disapprove of it. I must ask you to cancel this pageant and discontinue all your future activities on behalf of the Jews. If you wish hereafter to work for the Jewish cause, you’ll please consult me and let me advise you.” This is hex words at this point, I hung up. I’d love to have been a fly on the wall during that conversation. But anyway, as a footnote to this, in the spring of 1941, previously, Rabbi Wise had decided to impose a complete embargo on all aids sent to Jews in occupied countries, in compliance with the American government’s economic boycott of the Axis powers whereby every food package that was sent was seen as direct or indirect assistance to the enemy. Strict orders were given to the world Jewish Congress representatives in Europe to halt forthwith any shipment of packages to the ghettos. Despite the fact that apparently, most of these packages did usually reach their destination. Wise cable to Congress delegates in London and Geneva, and emphasised in English that at once, means, now, not in the future. Now we are coming on to the movement to establish the state of Israel. So we have a photograph of the young, and then, I think, very handsome, Teddy Kollek. By the end of the war, the devastation of European Jewry became apparent. The necessity of establishing a Jewish state became an urgency. Funds and armaments were desperately needed by the fledgling Israeli government to help free Palestine from British rule. And in 1945, the Jewish Agency, the pre-state Israeli government headed by David Ben-Gurion, created a vast clandestine arms purchasing and smuggling network under the ages of the Haganah, the underground forerunner of the IDF. This operated… Excuse me. This operated throughout the United States and included were hundreds of Americans from every walk of life, both Jewish and non-Jewish. There were rabbinical students, there were ex-GIs, longshoremen, engineers, industrialists, and one significant group rarely talked about were men who were tough, unafraid, streetwise, but more importantly, had access to ready cash, the Jewish gangsters.

Teddy Kollek, as I’m sure you are all aware, became the longtime and popular mayor of Jerusalem. He was then sent to New York to oversee the day-to-day operations of arm’s procurement. His headquarters were set up in a two room rented suite in the hotel, 14, at 14 East 60th Street. Excuse me. Which apparently, saw a steady stream of Jewish gangsters appear with offers of dispatching anybody who Kollek named. But hopefully, he refused that offer. The necessity of establishing a Jewish state became more urgent, and most of the Haganah believed that help should be accepted from wherever it was offered. Can we have the next picture, please, Lauren? The next agent who was sent to America was Yehuda Arazi. Now I’m sure… Oh, sorry, my dog’s barking. A member of the Haganah and a close aid to Ben-Gurion. He was sent to negotiate the purchase of military equipment, which the US government was selling off after the war. Arazi himself also had an interesting war. In 1933, he had stolen 5,000 rifles from the British police, after which he went into hiding for two years. However, in 1935, together with an associate by the name of Yitzhak Levy, dressed as royal engineer sergeants, they both travelled to Egypt, they escaped. They both travelled to Egypt by train, onwards to North Africa, then into Italy where he joined the Jewish brigade of the British army using a false identity. He was subsequently the head of the Italian branch of the Ha'Mossad Le'Aliya Bet, the Haganah agency, which was involved in facilitating illegal Jewish immigration to Palestine.

Operating out of the port of La Spezia in Italy. Now, I don’t know how many of you have been there, but it’s the most beautiful place, and the Israelis call it the golden door because La Spezia, I think, they managed to smuggle about 28,000 illegal immigrant Jews from there to Israel. And it was Arazi’s bravery and La Spezia affair, which actually gave the inspiration to Leon Uris for the character of Ari Ben Canaan in “Exodus”. Played, of course by my all time hero, Paul Newman. Back to arms purchasing, sorry. Arazi’s task, however, was not to be that simple. At this time, the US government operated an arms embargo against Israel while allowing Egypt and the Arab countries to somehow circumnavigate the ban. And here’s where contact with the Jewish underworld came in most useful. Arazi learned that the mafia controlled the ports of New York. And not being fussy with whom he dealt, approached Meyer Lansky once again for help to determine which weapons passed through the port bound for Arab countries, and if possible, to prevent them from reaching their destination. In turn, Lansky contacted Albert Anastasia and Joe Adonis, both senior Italian mafiosi, who at the time controlled the notorious Longshoreman’s union and the docks. At Lansky’s request, all help was given to conceal the arms purchased. While somehow, scuttling those bound for Egypt, which either mysteriously were lost, some fell overboard, or were mistakenly loaded onto vessels bound for Israel. New York and New Jersey Longshoreman also helped Israeli agents concealed the arms they purchased.

Some of which were brand new, still packed in straw and oil, and disguised as sewing machines. Could we have the next photo, please? This is a photograph of Reuven Dafni who was born Ruben Kandt in 1913, and he lived till 2005. Another Haganah emissary Reuven Dafni, also met with some well-known Jewish gangsters. Dafni himself was born in Croatia, Slovenia, then part of Austria-Hungary. He studied in Vienna in the early 1930s where his father was a diplomat. And he immigrated to mandatory Palestine in 1936. Together with Teddy Kollek, he became one of the founders of Kibbutz Ein Gev. And I’ll show photograph later on of that. He himself had a distinguished army career, eventually becoming a commissioned officer. In 1940, he joined the British Army to fight the Nazis, moving to a new Palestine brigade in 1942 and training for special ops. And in mid-March 1944, along with several other agents, was parachuted behind enemy lines into occupy Yugoslavia, spending six months in Croatia. I can’t imagine, actually, that after Dafni’s war experiences, meeting with shady characters in America would’ve been too difficult. As a Haganah operative, Dafni spent several months during 1946 and 1947, travelling around America, gathering financial support for Israel. Once again, he initially was helped by one of the mob’s representatives in Miami, one Sam Kay, whose assistance turned out to be invaluable. Dafni later recalled, the contact was arranged by a Jewish lawyer whose office was in the same building as the gangster. The lawyer felt it was worth seeing the man since we had nothing to lose. Dafni was invited to the office and said, “When I entered, I faced his secretary. It was like something out of a Hollywood movie. She was blonde, wore a low cut dress with her bosom half out, and was chewing gum and filing her nails. She never even looked at me, but said, ‘Go in, he’s expecting you.’”

And Dafni explaining his requirements to Kay, who immediately agreed to help. As I said, his assistance was invaluable, as Kay was on close personal terms with the president of Panama, and soon organised for all vessels carrying military equipment bound for Israel to be registered in Panama and fly under the Panamanian flag. After Miami, Dafni was sent to LA in 1947, not knowing that the man he was to meet was the notorious gangster, Bugsy Siegel. Bugsy was apparently ecstatic when he heard from Dafni that Jews were actually fighting. He said, “You actually mean fighting, as in fighting and killing?” After that, he said, “You have my total support.” And each week, Dafni received suitcases full of 5 and $10 bills until he left Los Angeles. Altogether, Dafni estimated that Siegel donated something in the region of $50,000. And Dafni was known to comment when he heard that Siegel was murdered subsequently. “Thank God I didn’t take a check.” Dafni’s career went from Haganah representative to becoming the first appointed Israeli council in LA in 1948. Then from 1953 to 1956 as consul general in New York City, followed by Bombay and Kenya. From 1983 until 1996, he was assistant director of the Yad Vashem in Jerusalem. Another representative, a gentleman by the name of Murray Greenfield, had been in the Merchant Marines during World War II and became involved in the illegal immigrant movement, Aliyah Bet. But had been caught by the British and sent to a camp in Cyprus from where he’d escaped and arrived in Palestine in 1947. From there, he was posted to America, taking with him the name of a contact in Baltimore. A mysterious midnight meeting was arranged in the contacts house. And in Greenfield’s own words, “It was the strangest group I had ever seen.

The men were all short and stocky with no necks. Their female companions were all blondes. Each attendee at the meeting was instructed how much to donate.” And at 2:00 AM, two hours later, Greenfield walked out of the house into Baltimore’s empty streets, carrying $90,000 in cash in a paper bag. He later found out that his host was formally one of Baltimore’s leading mobsters. The Irgun were also active on the fundraising scene during this time, particularly on the West Coast. In 1947, Yitzhak Ben-Ami, who I mentioned before, was sent to the United States to assist the Irgun-led American League for free Palestine. One major event was attended by every big shot in the community. Actors, bookmakers, producers, and the total raised on this trip was in excess of $120,000. This was earmarked for the refurbishment of the ill-fated ship, the Altalena. Now, I know Trudy gave a quite an in-depth presentation on this a little while ago, but just to recap very briefly, the ship, the Altalena had sailed to Israel from France loaded with millions of dollars of military equipment, including 5,000 rifles, 250 Bren guns, 5 million bullets, 50 bazookas, 10 Bren gun carriers, et cetera, et cetera, and in excess of 900 personnel. On arrival, on its arrival on the 2nd of June, 1948, a bit of conflict erupted between the Irgun, headed by Menachem Begin, and the Haganah led by David Ben-Gurion, resulting sadly in several fertilities and the burning of the vessel. That really was a very sad incident, but it stands on its own as a discussion. If any of you didn’t hear it, I’m sure that you can get it on the catch up videos. I have to add that not all mobsters were so altruistic when it came to Israeli survival. And if the opportunity presented itself, thought nothing of working against Jewish interest, if they could profit from it.

For example, two gentlemen by the name of Arthur Leebove and Sam Stein, both from Detroit were indicted in a conspiracy to smuggle 21 American war planes from New Jersey to Egypt during the Arab-Israel conflict in 1948. It was their intention to fly the surplus aircraft with British cruises to England, changed to Egyptian cruises once in England, and then onwards to Egypt. They purchased 20 86 planes, and one B-25 bomber. And unfortunately, or fortunately in December, 1948, the bomber hit bad weather and had to return to Newark where the crew and the planes were all seized by federal agents before they could be delivered. So, could we show the picture of Reuven Dafni, the last one with Kollek and the Kibbutz Ein Gev, please? It’s a very lovely photograph. You can see Teddy Kollek, I think, is second from the right in this photograph, and I’m not sure where Dafni is, but you can see that a lot of these pioneers to the United States had very much mutual interests. They came very much from the same place, much from Eastern Europe. They lived very much in the same place, and they were real, to my thinking, real absolute heroes. So let me go on. Going back to the mobsters, why did the mobsters support Israel, both the Jewish and the non-Jewish, and at the same time risk exposing themselves to the authorities? In Meyer Lansky’s case, his daughter later recounted that her father championed Israel’s fight for independence.

And I quote, and he said, “Because he could not stand back and allow the country where his own refugee grandparents were buried to be extinguished by the Arabs.” Now, I’m sure you all know Meyer Lansky’s story about not being allowed to settle in the United States, and as I mentioned last week, there was a very poor biopic, made of him with Harvey Keitel as Lansky. But it sort of tells the story, so you get the feel of it. Some commentators speculated that the Jewish mobsters saw themselves as defenders of the Jewish nation, almost biblical like, or maybe it just appealed to their macho image. Others have theorised that you could never extinguish a spark of Jewishness that exists inside us all, no matter how evil or how depraved one might have become. Yet, a further theory was that some gangsters simply sought the respect and legitimacy denied to them in their youth. The way to acquire communal recognition and approbation was through Jewish philanthropy and devotion to Jewish causes, of which clearly Israel at that time was the ultimate. Some, yet again, as in the case of Sam Kay in Miami, sought respectability so as not to embarrass their children and grandchildren. I know, I think it was Sam Kay’s daughter who couldn’t find a suitable husband because he was connected with the mob. One thing for certain, that the mafia and the Jewish mafia and the mob, the amount that they raised for Israel certainly was crucial to the support of the fledgling state. Now, I’m going to just conclude by questioning, how you could explain a gangster’s way of life, their criminality, and certainly not to excuse it, I would say that perhaps one explanation was poverty and opportunity or lack of opportunity.

And for some vowing, never to undergo the same humiliation as when their fathers were mocked in the streets as poor Jewish immigrants. I would also add, and I’m sure many of you already know this, that in pre-World War II America, very few parts of employment were available to Jews other than to be shopkeepers or merchants. Universities, if not completely barring Jews, operated a strict quota system. Professions such as lawyers, doctors, accountants, operated similar quotas. These were barriers that were impenetrable. The gangsters were the children of the Jewish ghetto in America, New York, Detroit, Chicago, Philadelphia, New York. When the ghetto disappeared, it took the Jewish gangster with. They have become a footnote in United States history, and the new generation of Jews didn’t need crime in order to be successful. But I’m just going to leave you with one thought. The United States, nor Canada, nor any other country, and particularly not the United Kingdom for that matter, have still not had a Jewish president or prime minister. So, I thank you for your attention. If you have questions, I’d be happy to answer them. And I would also recommend two books if anyone really would like to read further about this. One book is called “Tough Jews”, which actually somebody mentioned last week by a gentleman by the name of Rich Cohen. And another book by the title, “But They Were Good to Their Mothers” by Robert A. Rockaway. Both make quite good, fun reading. There’s also a very good biography of Bugsy Siegel, talking a lot about his early association with Meyer Lansky and the American mob. So, thank you for attention. I don’t know if there are questions. Can I go to the questions now, Lauren? Let’s have a look.

Q&A and Comments:

The Black Sox Scandal was… Oh, thank you very much. Sorry, you’re quite right. That shows how un-American I am. It was the World Series. Thank you very much.

Jews were barred from AAA in the thirties in Minneapolis. Yes, and I also understand that the Ku Klux Klan operated quite a lot of attacks against the Jews during that time.

Herend Porcelain is Hungarian. Thank you.

Q: Wow, that’s a difficult question, David. David Septon has asked, do I think Israel’s refusal to grant Lansky citizenship a huge stain on Israel’s concept of giving safety to any Jew?

A: Hmm, that’s a really difficult question because they have given, they did give right of return to gangsters. I honestly couldn’t answer that. You know, whether they had an ulterior motive where the Golda Meir was pressured into not giving him citizenship. I know he wasn’t pressured into leaving straight away. He was able to stay, but I don’t know. It certainly doesn’t compliment them, but it’s a question. I suppose it’s being raised again now, isn’t it? Something that the government is going to have to look at again?

Arthur Sych is pronounced Sych, Sych. Thank you, thank you. It wasn’t just Ben Hecht who said that Rabbi Wise was unhelpful. I interviewed another well-known Rabbi who said Wise was FDR’s pocket and did what FDR wanted.

Yes, thank you, Joan. I did read that. He clearly was a very unusual man, and as I said, I think he deserves a whole hour to himself.

Yes, Gita, you are right. The failure to help the Jews is chilling.

Q: Who would Rabbi Wise want to stop the shipment?

A: It was American government policy. It was an embargo against sending anything… Madeline, it was an embargo against anything, sending anything into the enemy territories. That was basically what it was.

Must read “Years of Wrath, Days of Glory”. Oh, I’d like that, absolutely horrifying story, I’m sure.

“Reuven Dafni was a good friend of mine, he’s…” Oh, that’s so nice, Joan. That’s really a blessing to him. And I know he lived to a ripe old age, as did Arazi, I know.

Shelly, thank you for your lovely comments.

Lorna, yes, there’s lots of individuals, I think, that we haven’t heard of, and I’m sure that some who probably would like never to be discussed, but we have to say that they surface from time to time.

Q: Okay, do I have any information on the alleged relationship? This is from Ron Bornstein. Between Joseph Kennedy, JFK’s father, and Meyer Lansky in connection with bootlegging during prohibition or the financing of JFK’s campaign.

A: I don’t, I’m afraid, but rumour has it that Joseph Kennedy was a bootlegger and a well-known anti-Semite, that much I do know, but that’s worth following up. If I do find anything, I’d be happy to put it on the blog.

Q: “Can we see the question?”

A: Oh, Mona, I don’t know that. You’ll have to ask Lauren, I’m afraid.

“My uncles were involved with the Newark group who fought the buns in new area.” Well, good for him, Elaine. I wish we had some of them now. “

"The Pledge” by Slater by the Haganah, and the hotel 40.“ Oh, that must have been wonderful.

Thank you, Henry, for your lovely comment. "The cartoonist is pronounced Sych.” Oh, again, yes, thank you.

Name of the last book. The last book was called, “But They Were Good to Their Mothers” by Robert A. Rockaway.

Q: Do you think there’s a connection between Jewish mobsters being only one generation and their philanthropy support of Israel?“

A: I think I might have covered that answer. As I said last week, the Jewish mobsters made a positive decision not to involve their children nor their families in their mob exploits. Unlike the Sicilian Mafia who intermarried with each other, and it went from father to son, wives, mothers to daughters. The Jewish mobsters made a positive effort, a positive decision, not to involve their families.

"My mother-in-law’s cousins are in the Ein Gev picture.” Oh, how fabulous. Jonathan, I hope you have that photograph ‘cause I thought it was wonderful.

“Tablet Magazine had a very good article about Waxey Gordon, one of the prohibition… Yes, I’ve seen, I haven’t seen that article, but I’ve seen lots of articles about Waxey Gordon. But thank you everybody for your fact. Did I dismiss questions? Where did I get to? No, so, oh, gosh. I got that. The Herend China lockdown. Is there anything on the screen? Oh, I don’t know. There’s nothing on the screen, a black box. Oh, it’s back, good.

Okay, thank you all very much for listening. I hope you found it interesting. And thank you, Lauren, once again for all your help. Have a lovely weekend, everybody. Bye.