The "old" Sicilian mafia
Article Albanian crime clans outside Albania it was also said that the "families" of this Balkan country actively cooperate with the criminal communities of neighboring Italy. Continuing the topic, in a small series of articles, we will talk about the Sicilian Mafia, Campanian Camorra, Calabrian Ndrangheta and Apulian Sacra crown unit. And let's start with a story about the emergence of the "old" Sicilian mafia.
Thanks to cinema, other ethnic criminal groups - Russians, Jewish, Mexican, Greek, Irish, and so on - are now called "mafia". Meanwhile, "Irish mafiosi" are the same as "Finnish Indians", "Mexican Vikings" or "Ukrainian samurai". The only foreign criminal groups organized on similar principles to the mafia are Albanian, which operate on the basis of the Besё (literal translation - "trust") code, which is extremely similar to the Sicilian "Omerta". This was discussed in the article Albanian crime clans outside Albania.
The clans of the real Sicilian mafia are still family organizations, and strangers admitted to one of them are "adopted" by them.
Societa d'onore, La Mano Nera and Cosa Nostra
Mafia is often called Cosa Nostra ("Our Business"), but this name appeared in the United States and relatively recently - after 1929. Most researchers believe that it was invented by the famous New York mobster Salvatore Lucania, better known as Charlie or Lucky (Lucky) Luciano. Allegedly, it was he who proposed it at the famous mafia "conference" in Atlantic City in May 1929 (it will be discussed in the next article). However, some believe that this name originally appeared in the FBI documents as a designation of Italian ethnic gangs operating in the United States, and only then began to be used by members of these criminal clans.
One way or another, the name stuck, and now the mafiosi themselves call their "families" Cosa Nostroy. Prior to this, the Sicilians called this organization Societa d'onore - "Honor Society". And the first Sicilian gangs in the United States were called La Mano Nera - "Black Hand". The fundamental difference between Cosa Nostra and La Mano Nera is the wide cooperation of its "families" with people of non-Cilian and even non-Italian origin. We'll talk more about this in the next article.
Legendary Founding Fathers
The legend, first recorded in 1890, says that the founders of the three main criminal groups in Italy were brothers from Toledo, associated with the local gang "La Garduna".
It is curious that a certain Madame de Subervik, in a pamphlet written in 1846, speaks of this gang as a long-standing secret organization of the Jesuits. It is difficult to say whether this gang actually existed, or was invented by this French woman who wanted to show what terrible things the Jesuits are doing in Spain. Perhaps some gang actually traded in Toledo and its environs, but most likely had nothing to do with the Jesuits, being a purely criminal "brigade". But back to our legend.
While the "Toledo brothers" limited themselves to plundering ordinary townspeople and peasants, the authorities did not pay much attention to them. But one day they killed their sister's rapist, who turned out to be a noble man and even a close associate of the king. The bandits were caught and sent to prison on the island of Favignana, located near Sicily. Here they allegedly spent 29 years, 11 months and 29 days, after which they managed to escape. The eldest of the brothers, Osso, who chose Jesus Christ himself as his patron, landed in Sicily, establishing the Mafia here. Mastrosso, who chose the patron of the Archangel Michael, became the founder of the Calabrian Ndrangheta. Carcagnosso, dedicated to Saint Peter, founded the Campanian (Neapolitan) Camorra. The main feature of these "honor societies" was the presence of the law of Omerta (silence, failure to report). This law was especially strictly observed in Sicily.
It is the mafia that is currently the most famous criminal community in the world: "old", Sicilian, and "new" - American. The best known are the Chicago and New York clans of Cosa Nostra. The Chicago mafia is inextricably linked with the name of Al Capone, and the "frontman" of the New York is Charles (Lucky) Luciano. Carl Gambino managed to spread the influence of his "family" (which from 1985 to 2002 was headed by the equally famous John Gotti) to New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. But more on that later.
What is "mafia"?
Sicily has an extremely advantageous geographical position and is famous for its excellent climate (in many guidebooks you can read that "there is no bad weather"), and therefore it constantly served as an object of expansion of the surrounding states.
The Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans, Normans and Arabs tried to gain a foothold on this island. In the Middle Ages, the German Hohenstaufens, the French and the Aragonese fought for him. You can even say that Sicily served as an indicator of the power of various nations and states: whoever owned this island was stronger. That is why they try to translate the word "mafia" using different languages. There are a great many versions, and its meaning varies over a very wide range.
Many authors are convinced that the word "mafia" originally had a negative connotation. Some say that it comes from the Tuscan word maffa ("poverty" or "misfortune"). They refer to the first dictionary of the Sicilian dialect, published in 1868, where "mafia" is called a word brought to Sicily by Garibaldi's volunteers in 1860, and speculate about its Tuscan origins. But in the same dictionary the Campanian word Camorra is called a synonym for the word "mafia". That is, in the Tuscan dialect there are no analogues to the name of this organization, just as there is no word by which a criminal community of this type could be called. And therefore this version is doubtful.
Some researchers derive the word "mafia" from the French Mauvais ("bad") or from the Arabic Mahias (to deceive, fool). Another consonant Arabic word - Magtaa, means a cave (supporters of this version believe that this is an allusion to the gangs who took refuge in these caves).
At the same time, according to Diego Gambeta, in Sicily in the XNUMXth century, the word "mafiusu" was used in relation to proud, arrogant and cocky people, but sometimes it served as a synonym for the word "brave". In the Russian language there is a word with a similar meaning - "dashing": it can be applied to a person "evil, bringing trouble", but it is also used in the meaning of "daring, courageous".
Other authors, on the contrary, are trying to ennoble the word "mafia". So, for example, some researchers argue that it is formed from two Arabic words - Mu '(strength or security) and afah (protection, protection) - Mu'afah.
Finally, there are supporters of the version according to which the word "mafia" is an abbreviation. Some say that it is derived from the phrase Mazzini Autorizza Furti, Incendi, Avvelenamenti (“Mazzini allows robbery, arson and poisoning”). Others talk about the phrase Morete Alla Francia, Italia Anela ("The death of France is Italy's sincere desire"). In this case, as we can see, the mafia acts as a patriotic organization that unites fighters against the French occupation.
Another "patriotic" version connects the word "mafia" with the events of the so-called "Sicilian Supper", when the Anjou dynasty was overthrown in 1282. Then on Easter Monday, a French soldier raped a young Sicilian, and on her wedding day. According to legend, the girl's mother went mad with grief and ran through the streets shouting "Ma fia!" (My daughter!). Outraged inhabitants of Palermo revolted and killed the invaders.
However, according to another version, on March 30, 1282, the Frenchman simply molested a girl who wanted to enter the church. In the ensuing scuffle, the Sicilian men killed the insolent man. At this time, the bell sounded, calling people to evening prayer, and more and more people came to the church. The stories about the incident were overgrown with more and more details, it all ended in an uprising, during which thousands of French were killed.
After the French, the Aragonese came to Sicily, and for many years this island belonged to the Spanish Habsburgs, and then to the Spanish Bourbons. In 1860, Sicily became the base of the Thousand Campaign organized by Garibaldi, which ended with the fall of the Neapolitan Bourbon Kingdom of the Two Sicilies and the annexation of Southern Italy to the Sardinian Kingdom.
Disembarkation of Garibaldi in Sicily
This is how the Kingdom of Italy was created, in which Sicily was traditionally a backward depressive territory with a low standard of living and almost universal illiteracy.
But when does the word "mafia" appear in written sources in a meaning close to the modern - "secret criminal group"?
For the first time it sounded in the report of the prosecutor of the Sicilian province of Trapani Pietro Ulloa in 1838 (even under the Bourbons), who wrote to the Minister of Justice:
In 1843, a play by Gaetano Mosca and Giuseppe Rizzotto, Mafia in the Vicar, was published (Vicar is the name of the prison in Palermo).
Then, in 1865, we see this word in the report of the prefect of Palermo, the Marquis Filippo Gvalterio.
Finally, in May 1875, the Chevalier of Soragny, Deputy Prefect of Palermo, writes to the Minister of Foreign Affairs:
And in 1894, Italian Interior Minister Girolamo Cantelli spoke of the mafia as a "real social scourge" and "epidemic."
On the other hand, many experts say that the mafia is not only a criminal community, but also a lifestyle. Giuseppe Pitre, himself a native of Palermo, wrote:
The influence of the mafia was already so great that there was a saying on the island:
Mafioso
Jan Potocki's novel Manuscript Found in Saragossa has a good account of how the mafia came to be. The robber Zoto, the son of a Calabrian bandit, who by the will of fate ended up in Sicily, tells the protagonist of this novel about the chieftain of his first gang. It was Testa-Longa - a resident of the town of Val Caster, located at the foot of Etna, who was outlawed after the murder of the local duke, who "thrust his hand into the corsage" of his wife. Zoto's words:
And here's what happened next:
“We will rob together,” he told them. - When I come to you, give me whatever you want, and for this you can blame all your robberies on me in front of the owners.
Testa-Longa conscientiously divided everything between his comrades ... Moreover, passing through some village, he ordered to pay for everything in half, so that very soon he became the idol of both Sicilies. "
Thus, with minimal risk to himself and his people, Testa-Longa received money, fame and reputation.
Zoto is a former Sicilian bandit, the son of a Calabrian robber. Still from the Polish film "The Manuscript Found in Saragossa"
Over time, some of these tenants came to the very logical conclusion that paying even a small part of the "profit" to field commanders like Testa Longa is economically impractical. They themselves created detachments that allegedly robbed them. With the help of these gangs, they kept both disgruntled peasants and intractable aristocrats at bay.
But the "brotherhood" of the mafia included not only fraudulent tenants and "romantic bandits", but also quite respected citizens - priests, lawyers, doctors and even "heads of administrations."
The "Honor Society" offered its "protection" both to the local barons and to the peasants who worked for them, acting as a kind of intermediary and taking payment from both. In case of any "offense", the person turned to the local "godfather", who could help collect the debt (taking a certain percentage of the amount returned) or avenge the "outraged honor". People who tried to solve their problems on their own were persecuted by both the mafia and local authorities, often under the control of "respected people". Those who refused "protection" were first warned. As such a "warning" they could burn down farm buildings, destroy crops, throw the head of a sheep, pig, donkey or mule under the door. If this did not help, they abducted a family member and again entered into negotiations, threatening to send his ear or finger with the next letter. Finally, they killed the head of the family or someone from the household. In this case, the head of the local mafia clan referred to one of the piccolo ("baby"). Kissing him on the lips, he called the name of the victim and uttered a ritual phrase:
"Picciolo" took a lupar (that was the name of the sawn-off shotgun of a hunting rifle, usually used for hunting wolves) and went to obey the order. At the same time, he added salt to the buckshot.
Lupara found in one of the caches
It was supposed to shoot at close range in the face or the back of the head. After the successful execution of this order, the killer's status increased, and he was no longer called Picciolo, but Tavaro - "Bull".
Each member of the "Honor Society" was under the protection of the entire clan, an attack on him was punished even at the risk of high losses. Traitors were sentenced to death; they usually learned about the sentencing when they saw the head of a dog (or the corpse of a dog without a head) at their door.
In "historical times "admission to the" brotherhood "began to take place in a ritual similar to the Masonic. The candidate was introduced into a dark room by two clan members who vouched for him, here he pierced the middle finger, soaked a paper image with blood and burned it over a candle, taking an oath. In it, he promised "to remain faithful to the brothers, never to deceive or betray them, to help them with all his might" and assured everyone:
Such was the old Sicilian mafia that few people had heard of outside Italy. But soon a new mafia appeared - the American one. It is curious that back in the 30s of the twentieth century, new members of the American Cosa Nostra, upon "initiation", took an oath in the Sicilian dialect of the Italian language. The phrase was added to its text:
But the final part remained almost unchanged:
This is known from the testimony of Joseph Valachi, who was admitted to one of the New York "families" in 1930.
Mussolini against the mafia
The "Godfathers" of Sicily at one time financially supported the future Duce, donating a certain amount to organize the "campaign against Rome" (October 28, 1922). The King of Italy, Victor Emmanuel III, had enough strength to disperse the "Blackshirts", but he did not dare to give an order to the army. Instead, the cowardly monarch appointed Mussolini head of government, in which he received dictatorial powers, taking also the posts of ministers of internal and foreign affairs.
During Mussolini's trip to Sicily in 1924, an incident occurred that had far-reaching consequences for both the mafiosi and fascist Italy.
The hero of the scandal was the mayor of the city of Piana dei Greci (and also the head of the local mafia clan), Ciccio Cuccia. This rascal in 1923 managed to shove his newborn son into the arms of the king of Italy in the church, who unexpectedly became the godfather of this child and, according to the protocol, was forced to award the mafiosi the Order of the Italian Cross.
Ciccio suggested that Mussolini give up the protection, saying that next to him the dictator was not in danger. After an arrogant refusal, he forbade the townspeople to attend the fascist rally at which Duce spoke. Offended by Mussolini, he issued a decree to completely ban the mafia, and the Minister of Police, Cesare Mori, was appointed responsible for its "eradication".
This campaign turned out to be extremely "dirty": many Sicilians took advantage of the pretext to settle scores with their neighbors, the police did not particularly understand and reacted to any, even the most absurd denunciations, beating out "confessions" with the help of torture and torture.
The largest convicted mafia leader turned out to be Don Vito Casho Ferro, who in 1909 personally killed the American police lieutenant Joe Petrosino, who was sent to Sicily to "exchange experiences", and also more than 20 people. They managed to accuse him only of smuggling.
In 1934, Mussolini stated:
However, many "people of honor" escaped punishment. They either hid or left the island, including going to the United States, where they joined the ranks of the local Cosa Nostra. And in 1932, in honor of the tenth anniversary of the "March on Rome" in Italy, a large-scale amnesty was held, as a result of which many convicted mafiosi were released. Many years of efforts by the police (among whom there were honest people who sincerely wanted to rid Sicily of criminals) went to waste, but the mafia did not forgive Mussolini.
"Antifascists" of the American and Sicilian Mafia
After the US entered World War II, New York District Attorney Frank Hougan proposed using the Cosa Nostra to counter sabotage and prevent possible sabotage in American ports, saying:
And soon Lucky Luciano, who was in an American prison, was visited by old friends and associates - the lawyer Moses Polakoff and Meyer Lansky, "the mafia accountant" (one of the founders of the gambling business in Las Vegas). On behalf of the American government, they made the "godfather" "an offer that cannot be refused."
Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky
Cooperation with the mafia was very successful: American ports during the war years worked like a clock. And during the landing of the Allies in Sicily ("Operation Husky"), the losses of the Americans, who were assisted by local mafiosi, were significantly less than the British.
The eighth British army of Montgomery, which landed in Syracuse and Pachino, fought its way to Messina for 5 weeks with stubborn battles.
American troops of George Patton (Seventh Army) from Jele and Licate reached Palermo in seven days practically without fighting. On this journey, at the request of Lucky Luciano, they were personally accompanied by the "boss of the bosses" of Sicily - Calogero Vizzini (Don Calo), whom the Americans called "General of the Mafia". Later, he was even appointed mayor of the city of Villalba and was awarded the rank of "honorary colonel" of the American army.
Calogero Vizzini, illiterate "boss of the bosses" of the Sicilian mafia
And the second most influential mafioso of the island, Genco Russo, without any help captured Colonel Salemi - a convinced fascist and commander of the impregnable fortress of Monte Cammarat. Many of the soldiers and officers of the demoralized garrison were Sicilians. Threatened with reprisals against their family members, they capitulated to the mafiosi.
Giuseppe Genco Russo, boss of the mafia of the city of Mussomeli (province of Caltanissetta)
According to eyewitnesses, in the cities where the Americans entered, shooting often began: emboldened mafiosi settled scores with their enemies and overly principled police officers.
In 1962-1963. in Sicily, the so-called "First Mafia War" began, in which the "authoritative" clan of Salvatore Greco met with the "upstarts" from the "family" of Angelo La Barbera. The culmination of those events was the explosion in the city of Ciaculli (June 30, 1963), which claimed many lives of random people. This terrorist attack caused great indignation, its important consequence was a change for the worse in the attitude towards the mafia of ordinary Sicilians. The repressive repression of the authorities forced many mafiosi to emigrate to the United States.
Another blow was dealt to the mafia in 1978, when 114 members of various "families" were arrested and convicted ("Trial 114").
Unlike Mussolini's short-term campaign, in modern Italy the fight against the mafia is constantly and very active. In this photograph, taken by Letitsiya Battalya in Sicily in 1980, we see the moment of the arrest of the famous mobster Leoluca Bagarella:
Laetitia states that after she took this photo, Bagarella managed to kick her so hard in the stomach that she fell to the ground.
A powerful blow to the Sicilian mafia was dealt in 1986-1987: 338 mafiosi were convicted thanks to the activities of the prosecutor Giovanni Falcone.
Giovanni Falcone at the funeral of the murdered mafia police prefect of Palermo Carlo Alberto dalla Chiesa, 1982, fotograf Letitsiya Battalya
In May 1992, Falcone overtook the revenge of the mafia: his car was blown up near Palermo. In addition to the prosecutor, his wife and three bodyguards were killed.
Memorial sign at the site of the death of the prosecutor Giovanni Falcone
Two months later, the car of his successor, Paolo Borsellino, was blown up in Palermo. Currently, the names Falcone and Borsellino are assigned to the Palermo airport. A tree grows at the door of Falcone's house, on which photographs of new victims of the mafia are now placed next to his portrait. And in one of the squares of Palermo, you can see a black stele dedicated to the memory of all people who have ever died at the hands of the mafiosi.
Judges and prosecutors handling mafia-related cases are often under government protection. In this 1998 photograph, also taken by Letizia Bataglia, you see Judge Roberto Scarpitano walking surrounded by four guards:
La Stidda
In the 80s of the twentieth century, a new criminal group La Stidda ("Star") appeared in Sicily, which broke away from the "old" mafia. It was headed by Croce Benvento and Salvatore Calafato, the members of this organization are called steddari or steddaroli.
According to the most probable version, La Stidda got its name from the locally revered icon "Madonna with the Star".
La Stidda managed to withstand the "Great Mafia War" that unfolded in the 80s of the twentieth century (according to forensic experts, up to a thousand Zvezda militants and about 500 mafia members were killed then). Currently, La Stidda controls the southern part of Sicily, especially its position in the area near the cities of Gele, Agrigento and Caltanissetta.
This organization also has branches in Genoa, Turin and Milan. Little is known about her activities, it is believed that the main sphere of interests of the "splitters" is control over the sphere of sexual services and the organization of the gambling business.
Now let's go back a little and see that at the end of the XNUMXth century, a new, even more powerful mafia began to emerge in the United States. The reason for its occurrence was the massive emigration to this country of Italians, among whom there were many immigrants from Sicily.
"Lemon Rush"
Many people know that the US mafia clans got very rich on the illegal import of alcoholic beverages, their production "locally" and the trade in alcohol during the "Prohibition" (we will talk about this in the next article). And that the basis of the well-being of the modern mafia is the drug trade. Mafiosi also do not disdain trade now weapons, an organization of sexual services, earn on illegal migration. However, the first successful "business project" of the mafia "families" of Sicily was the control over the cultivation and export of lemons.
The fact is that for many centuries the real "scourge" of sailors of all countries was scurvy. Only in the middle of the XNUMXth century did the Scottish physician James Lind prove that when fruits are included in the diet, the incidence of scurvy decreases sharply. Lemons were found to be especially useful. At the end of the XNUMXth century, the British Royal Committee fleet for the sick and wounded, issued a recommendation to make it mandatory for the crews of all state-owned ships to consume lemon juice. "Private traders" followed them, and then the captains of foreign ships learned about the benefits of lemons. Now it became extremely profitable to start lemon plantations in Sicily, demand was constantly growing, supply was lagging, and the prices of lemons were constantly going up. Mafiosi immediately offered their services to "protect the plantations", as well as their safe transportation to ports and loading onto ships. When huge plantations of lemon trees appeared in Florida in the early twentieth century and demand for Sicilian lemons fell, many bankrupt farmers emigrated to the United States. Most of them were forced to get any job there and work literally for a pittance.
Italian immigrants to the USA, photo from the early XNUMXth century
But some have formed new mafia clans here, which eventually surpassed the old Sicilian mafia in scale. At first, these new mafiosi collected levies only from their fellow countrymen, but soon turned their eyes to people of any other nationalities. The first mafia organization in the United States appeared in New Orleans in 1890 and was named the Black Hand. It is characteristic that it was the “fruit dealers” who founded it.
We will talk about this and much more in the next article.
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