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When the buzzer rang, Irving Milberg was
ready.
It was Sept. 16, 1931, and members of
the Little Jewish Navy — notorious for its
bootlegging — had just arrived at 1740
Collingwood in Detroit. They were there
to meet with Purple Gang members Har-
ry Keywell, Ray Bernstein, Harry Fleish-
er and Irving Milberg.
In his book But He Was Good To His
Mother, author Robert Rockaway writes
that Ray Bernstein began the meeting
with some small talk, then uttered:
"Where's Scotty with the books?"
He then got up and left on the pretext of
calling their bookmaker. The others con-
tinued talking about details of their mu-
tual financial transactions.
Crowded together on the sofa, the visi-
tors failed to see any significance in that
the Purples stood or sat some distance
apart, directly across from them.
Meanwhile, Bernstein had walked down
to the alley behind the apartment house
and started the engine of the getaway car.
After making sure the escape route was
clear, he tooted the horn and waited.
Suddenly the Purples drew guns and
began shooting.
The argument was, of course, about
money and territory. When it was done,
the infamous Collingwood Massacre left
three Little Jewish Navy gang members
dead. Their killers, including Irving Mil-
berg, all were turned in by bookmaker
"Sollie" Levine and captured days later.
Today, Irving Milberg lies in Section 1
at Machpelah.
He was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1903,
the son of Samuel and Freda Milberg, both
of whom were immigrants from Poland.
His wife's name was Bertha.
Fittingly, under "trade, profession or
particular kind of work done," Milberg's
death certificate reads: "None." Most of his
adult life was spent with the Purple Gang.
The Purple Gang got its start in the
1920s and was headed by the Bernstein
brothers — Ray, Isadore and Abe. Its
mainstay was illegal liquor, but the gang
also dealt in drugs, diamonds and prosti-
tution.
By 1927, the Purple Gang comprised
about 50 members, and by 1928 it "was at
its peak," Robert Rockaway writes. "It
dominated the Motor City's rackets and
acquired a reputation for ruthlessness and
violence that matched that of Chicago's
Capone outfit. The consensus was that the
Purples were the toughest Jewish mob in
the nation."
One of the gang's first members was a
17-year-old named Irving Milberg who,
Mr. Rockaway says, had a reputation of
being "good with his fists."
Milberg was arrested a number of
times, and was incarcerated in Leaven-
worth for liquor violations. But his life of
crime didn't come to an end until 1931,
when he, Keywell and Bernstein were
PHOTO BY THE DETRO IT NEWS
One Of The Gang
Top: The Purple Gang on trial.
Above: By the time he was 17, Irving Milberg was a
member of the Purple Gang.
Left: Fellow Purple Abe Bernstein informed
authorities that Milberg had died.
charged with first-degree murder in the
Collingwood Street Massacre.
Author Robert Rockaway recalls the
scene when, after one hour and 37 min-
utes of deliberation, the jury pronounced
the three men guilty.
The verdict created bedlam in the court-
room. Friends and relatives of the defen-
dants began to scream hysterically and
court officers climbed onto tables and
chairs to restore order.
On Nov. 17, 1931, Keywell, Bernstein
and Milberg were shackled to their seats dominal pain when he went in for surgery
and taken by train to Marquette State on Sept. 27, 1938. The doctor discovered
Prison. Guarded by seven policemen, they an obstruction of the large intestine.
remained unfazed. "They joked and gos-
Two days later, in the morning on Sept.
siped with their guards, read newspapers, 29, 35-year-old Irving Milberg died. The
munched corned beef sandwiches and cause of death was peritonitis, a bacteri-
played cards," Mr. Rockaway writes.
al abdominal infection.
Irving Milberg, 28, became prisoner No.
Fellow Purple Abe Bernstein was the
5451. He would spend the next seven informant on the death certificate, while
years, his last, in Marquette.
the now-defunct Lewis Brothers handled
Irving Milberg must have been sick for the funeral. 0
some time with chills, fever and severe ab-