Abner Zwillman

Abner "Longy" Zwillman (* probably July 27, 1904 in Newark , New Jersey ; † February 27, 1959 in West Orange , New Jersey) was an American mobster from the so-called " Kosher Nostra " environment .

biography

Zwillman was born into a Jewish family. The year of birth is unclear. B. the year 1899; In any case, the year 1904 was incorporated into his tombstone.

After his father's death in 1918, he was forced to drop out of school to support his family. In order to earn more money, he moved to the slightly better residential area of ​​"Clinton Hill" and began selling lottery tickets to residents. He soon discovered his talent for business and organized sales through local small traders. By 1920 he had brought most of it under his control, also with the help of thugs.

After the introduction of Prohibition , he began smuggling whiskey from Canada , which he transported to New Jersey in armored trucks from US Army stocks of the First World War . This made him an important logistical link within the Seven Group , initiated by Arnold Rothstein , which divided up most of the illegal market among itself. He invested the proceeds from these activities in other business areas. He got into illegal gambling and prostitution , which he camouflaged through legal activities. Some of the most famous clubs and restaurants soon belonged to him. In the late 1920s he had already achieved an income of about 2 million US dollars per year.

In 1929, Zwillman helped to bring about the so-called "Cleveland Conference", at which Jewish and Italian mafiosi met for the first time, resulting in a 'Mafia Ruling Commission' and probably also the basis for the ' National Crime Syndicate ' originated. It met for the first time in the following year. After Dutch Schultz's death in 1935, Zwillman took over his illegal activities and the press has since started referring to him as "Al Capone of New Jersey". He presumably controlled local politics in Newark for over 20 years.

During the 1940s, he and his partner Willie Moretti controlled the gambling scene - especially through his nightclub "The Palisades". In 1946 he and Joe Reisfeld acquired the Sommerset Importers company from Joseph P. Kennedy . Joseph P. Kennedy, patron saint of the Kennedy clan wanted to part with his alcohol activities in order not to endanger the political careers of his sons Robert and John F. Kennedy through his potentially bad image, as illegal activities would have been made public during the prohibition period can kick.

In 1959 he was to testify before the "McClellan" committee of the Senate and had already received a summons. However, on February 27, 1959, he was found hanged in West Orange. There were marks on his wrists that suggested he was bound. Therefore, the police assumed a murder. Some speculations see Vito Genovese as the commissioner of the murder, others believe that Meyer Lansky ultimately ordered the murder. He feared that the aging Zwillman had decided to become a government informant .

Movies and movie quotes

• In 1999, Zwillman was played by James Harper in the US film Meyer Lansky - American Roulette .

literature

• Stuart, Mark A .: Gangster: The True Story of The Man Who Invented Crime . WH Allen & Co. Plc 1985

Web links

• Abner Zwillman in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• "Old Newark Memories: Longy Zwillman" at www.virtualnewarknj.com (English)