But He Was Good To His Mother

Point in 1954 with a commis-
sion as a captain and a
degree in engineering. In
1962, he went to Vietnam for
i a year, as one of the first
American advisers sent by
the Kennedy administration.
By then he was married and
had a child. Keeping a
promise he made to his wife,
he resigned from the army
when his tour end'd. He
moved with his family to
Washington State and
) worked for a timber company
and then for Boeing Aircraft.
He never had anything to do
with criminal activities.
gangsters
ewish
revered their mothers.
In this, they were little
different than other
second-generation American
Jews. Among them the immi-
grant Eastern European
Jewish mother, the "Yiddishe
Mama," achieved mythical
status.
The canonization of this
image occurred in 1925, when

(

ej

the entertainer Sophie
Tucker, "the last of the Red
Hot Mamas," introduced the
song "My Yiddishe Mama," to
audiences. This paean to the
long-suffering immigrant
Jewish mother took the
American Jewish community
by storm and became a
national hit.
A Yiddishe mama, oh how
bitter when she's missing.
You should thank God you
still have her with you
You don't know how you'll
grieve when she passes away.
She would have leaped into
fire and water for her chil-
dren.
Not cherishing her is cer-
tainly the greatest sin.
Oh, how lucky and rich is
the person who has such a
beautiful gift from God:
Just an old little Yiddishe
mama, my mama.
Jewish gangsters frequent-
ed nightclubs and heard the
song. In fact, Jewish under-
world figures owned many

nightspots and speakeasies.
In New York, Dutch Schultz
owned the Embassy Club. In
Newark, Longy Zwillman
owned the Blue Mirror and
the Casablanca Club.
Detroit's Purple Gang owned
Luigi's Cafe.
Jewish singers and comedi-
ans, such as Al Jolson, Eddie
Cantor, Fanny Brice and
Sophie Tucker, played in the
mob clubs. They sang
"Yiddishe Mama." Oh, how
they sang it. The song always
brought the house down.
More than one observer noted
how these hardened Jewish
mobsters would break into
tears when they heard "My
Yiddishe Mama."
Meyer Lansky adored his
mother. He remembered how
she gladly sacrificed herself
for her children. While still a
youngster, he swore that
when he grew up he would be
rich "and I'd make sure that
for the rest of her days my
mother had only the best."

As he rose in the world of
crime, Meyer settled his par-
ents in an elegant apartment,
complete with maid, in a
fashionable section of
Brooklyn.
When his mother had eye
surgery in the late 1930s,
Meyer got her a full-time pri-
vate nurse to stay with her in
the hospital. The nurse
remembers Meyer showing
"much compassion" for his
mother. Meyer came to visit
his mother every day. He sat
at her bedside for hours, talk-
ing and listening.
Detroit Jewish mobster
Maxie Hassel venerated his
mother. Whenever he remem-
bered or spoke about her, he
would choke up and have
tears in his eyes. One time
during the Depression, he
was wanted by the Detroit
police in connection with a
gangland killing. He had to
leave town and fast.
Maxie's father, Jake, had
immigrated to the United

States from Russia in 1910.
Jake was an Orthodox Jew
who peddled junk for a living.
Jake wanted nothing to do
with Max, considering him a
bum and no good. Maxie's
mother, Gita, loved her son
and never abandoned him.
Maxie asked his mother to
help him. "It was the
Depression," he said. "My
father would get up at 4:30 in
the morning, stoke the fur-
nace, say his prayers and go
off to work. He came home at
eight or nine at night. He was
careful with his money and
gave Ma a few dollars a week.
With this she had to feed my
six brothers and sisters and
run the house.
"She couldn't manage and
took a job plucking chickens
for a kosher butcher. She
saved her pennies and kept it
hidden somewhere in the
house.
"I was desperate, so I went
to her for help. I'll never for-
get what she did as long as I
BUT page 56

About The Author

R

obert Rockaway was born and books on organized crime, but generally
raised in Detroit. He holds a Ph.D. they repeated the same cliches and anec-
in history from the University of dotes.
Then Mr. Rockaway discovered two
Michigan and taught at the
University of Texas before making aliyah major sources in the shadowy world of the
Jewish gangster. The first is
in 1971. Since then, he has
the massive FBI files made
been a member of the depart-
available under the Freedom
ment of Jewish history at Tel
of Information Act. The second
Aviv University.
was a mysterious figure —
Mr. Rockaway is the author
identified only as "Mervin" —
of The Jews of Detroit: From
who had been friends with
the Beginning, 1762-1914 and
many of America's leading
Immigrants, Workers and
Jewish gangsters. He volun-
Gangsters: Chapters in
teered to guide Mr. Rockaway
American Jewish History.
in his research and introduced
Mr. Rockaway's interest in
him to several key retired
mobsters began while he was
mobsters.
working on his doctoral disser-
Mr. Rockaway spent hours
on the Jews of Detroit,
with these elderly men and
at U-M. He found that during
recorded their reminiscences.
the 1920s a group of 50 not-so- Robert Rockaw ay
He also spoke with their fami-
nice Jewish boys, the Purple
lies, neighbors and friends. These, together
Gang, dominated Detroit's underworld.
By 1980, Mr. Rockaway began seriously with his earlier research and interviews,
researching the lives of Jewish gangsters. including one with Meyer Lansky, led
At first, he found it more than frustrating. Rockaway to write But — He Was Good To
There were some references to Jews in His Mother.

The Lives and Crimes
of Jewish Gangsters