Benjamin Fein

Portrait of Benjamin Fein, taken around 1920

Benjamin "Dopey Benny" Fein (actually Benjamin Feinschneider ) (* 1887 Lower East Side , New York City ; † 1962 ) was an American mobster who is now part of the Kosher Nostra .

He mastered the so-called "laboratory racketeering" with his rackets , was charged with minor theft and serious robbery and murder , among other things , but was acquitted twice for lack of evidence.

Life

Early years

Benjamin Fein, the son of Jewish immigrants from Austria, initially found his way through as a pickpocket in the Lower East Side in his youth . In 1905 he founded his own band of robbers. Fein was caught, only had to serve part of a five-year prison sentence and served 3½ years in Elmira prison , which he had received for armed robbery . Upon his release in 1910, Fein joined Jack Zelig's gang, who had brought most of the former Eastman Gang under his control.

There he began extorting protection money in the Garment District of Manhattan , which was crammed with the "sweatshops" of the clothing industry, renting his clubs to unionists and entrepreneurs in the district and thus intervening in the already violent labor disputes . As a result, he is said to have earned an annual income of around 20,000 US dollars.

Fein's gang also acted as a reservoir for other kosher nostras , including Waxey Gordon in the 1910s .

In 1913, several smaller gangs of thugs got together to break the monopoly of violence held by Fein and Joseph Rosenzweig . As a result, there was a great shooting that took place on Grand Street and Forsyth Street . This was the beginning of a four-year dispute that went down in history as one of the so-called " Labor Slugger Wars ".

When Fein was arrested in 1914 and there was no support for his political connections, Fein testified. Eleven gangsters and 21 unionists were charged, but no one was convicted. In the same year, Fein was arrested again, this time for the murder of the clerk Frederich Strauss , who happened to be caught in the lines of fire and killed during a shooting near St. Mark's Place . However, since he could not be recognized by witnesses to the incident, he was released.

Renewed charges

After his release in 1917, Fein's power had declined significantly as he was unable to go about his business for nearly three years. Therefore, he withdrew from his old job and now became a successful businessman in clothing .

After 13 years without charge, Fein had to appear again in court in 1931. Fein was indicted along with Samuel Hirsch and Samuel Rubin . They have been accused of criminally and physically attacking Mortimer Kahn of Brooklyn with acid.

In 1941, Fein was arrested along with Abraham Cohen , John Ferraro, and two Dallas businessmen on the orders of District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey for being involved in obtaining a recently stolen $ 10,000 shipment of goods. He and Cohen were convicted of gang leaders. They were also charged with armed robbery and burglary , which stole over $ 250,000 over three years.

Despite his four youth sentences, Benjamin Fein was spared a life sentence and was given a 10 to 20 year sentence instead. Nothing is known about Benjamin Fein's further fate.

Web links

• Benjamin Fein on Mugshots.com (English)
• Six For Five blog: "AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF JEWISH GANGSTERS AND SCHLAMMERS IN NEW YORK CITY FROM 1900 - 1941" on sixforfive.blogspot.com (English)