Genna family

The Genna family consisted essentially of six Sicilian brothers who played a key role in the organized crime confrontation in Chicago during the 1920s.

The Genna brothers

The family clan that operated in Chicago consisted of six Sicilian brothers:

• Angelo Genna († May 25, 1925), "Bloody Angelo"
• Antonio Genna († July 8, 1925), "Tony the Gentleman"
• Mike Genna († June 13, 1925), "The Devil"
• Peter Genna († May 13, 1948)
• Sam Genna (1884 - December 20, 1951)
• Vincenzo Genna , "Jim" († November 8, 1931)

The brothers were born in the Sicilian port city of Marsala as the sons of Antonio Genna, Sr. and Maria Luchari . However, her parents stayed behind in Sicily with their seventh son Nicolo and their two daughters Rosa Laudicina and Caterina Maria .

Rise in Chicago

When the introduction of Prohibition in the United States promised high win rates, the Genna brothers also got into the dangerous illegal business of smuggling alcohol. Somehow they managed to get a license to manufacture industrial alcohol, which they then re-distilled and illegally resold.

Presumably they controlled the entire area with their cheap booze in Chicago, which was also called "Little Italy" because of the many Italian immigrants. Their territory may even extend to the west into the Chicago Loop . Their headquarters was a warehouse on Taylor Street .

Without question, they had made a name for themselves and in addition to personal nicknames such as "Bloody Angelo" or "The Devil" they were also known as the Terrible Gennas . They also had their own informant system; such a silent observer received up to $ 15 a day. Obviously there was support from corrupt police officers and it was speculated that they had the Republican Party boss for their area - Joseph Esposito - on their payroll.

In light of this success, the Gennas began to penetrate other areas of Chicago, which led to a confrontation with the North Side Gang of Dean O'Banion . Actually, both clans were under the control of the "South Side" boss Johnny Torrio , who was now advised by O'Banion of the Gennas' actions.

However, the Gennas had grown into powerful allies of Torrios and there was no concrete help for O'Banion, although it certainly played a role that the illegal serving of beer was not actually restricted by O'Banion and the Irishman was basically concerned with the principle. In any case, the north side took action itself and a whole whiskey load of the Gennas was brought up.

The gennas were at the height of their power; on November 13, 1924, Angelo even became president of the Unione Siciliana after previous president Mike Merlo had died of cancer five days earlier.

The Sicilians Torrio and the Gennas decided the death of the Irishman O'Banion, especially after the north side had played Torrio and the Gennas off against each other in a brewery takeover. The act was carried out by the director of the Unione Siciliana , Frankie Yale , on November 10, 1924, with Mike Genna personally present as the driver of the escape vehicle. Yale shook hands with O'Banion, whereupon John Scalise and his mentor and partner Albert Anselmi , who were then working for the Gennas, opened fire. O'Banion had no suspicions because the perpetrators had allegedly come to the Irishman's flower shop to collect the pre-ordered flowers for Mike Merlo's funeral.

Death of Angelo and Mike Genna

The north side struck back. On January 25, 1925, there was an unsuccessful assassination attempt on Johnny Torrio and Vincent Drucci , Earl "Hymie" Weiss and Bugs Moran are also responsible for the murder of Angelo Genna on May 25, 1925 . The attack is probably one of the most dramatic incidents of the so-called “ drive-by shooting ” that has ever occurred in reality. Angelo returned fire at the pursuers from the moving car and only his collision with a lantern was his undoing, as he was helplessly exposed to the hail of bullets from the perpetrators.

In response, on June 13, 1925, Scalise, Anselmi and Mike Genna ambushed the "Northsiders" Moran and Drucci in a similar manner. They shot Moran and Drucci's car with shotguns, injuring the latter. About an hour later, Scalise, Genna, and Anselmi sped south on Chicago's Western Avenue . A police force followed them and passed them on the corner of Western and 60th Streets . After the vehicles came to a standstill, the criminals opened fire. During the shooting, the Chicago police officers Charles Walsh and Harold Olsen were killed and Michael Conway seriously wounded. The fourth policeman, William Sweeney, chased the fleeing criminals towards a block. Mike Genna was shot while trying to escape, while Scalise and Anselmi were found and arrested by the police. Both were later indicted and before court asked.

The end

Scalise and Anselmi moved under the command of Al Capone and both are linked to the murder of Antonio Genna on July 8, 1925. Accordingly, the order came directly from Capone, who had replaced Torrio as head of the organization, soon known under him only as the Chicago Outfit , and, in contrast to this, did not tolerate any territorial encroachments by the Gennas. As a direct enforcer for Capone, if this should really have ordered a direct elimination, Sam Giancana would allegedly also come into question. He would not have been 18 at the time of the acts - the members of the Forty-Two gang were known for their ruthless brutality - but a later involvement of Forty-Two gang members by Capone's successor Frank Nitti is considered more likely.

According to the reading of the press at the time, Antonio had also fallen into the hands of the same group of perpetrators as his brother Angelo. The removal of Aselmi and Scalise, the armed arm of the Gennas, so to speak, was an important strategic success for Capone and Capone could certainly be trusted to have deliberately delivered the Gennas to the “north side” without protection.

(Ironically, Earl "Hymie" Weiss met the Killer Capones on October 11, 1926, right in front of the former O'Banion flower shop on North State Street , when he solved the problem with the north after the Gennas left.)

So within 44 days, whoever carried it out, had killed half the gennas; in addition there was the murder of member Samuzzo "Samuel" Amatuna on November 13, 1925, who had replaced Angelo as his successor at the Unione Siciliana . When her brother-in-law Henry Spignola was murdered on January 10, 1926 , the remaining brothers gave up the fight and went to Sicily . However, they returned a few years later and probably tried to rebuild their power, which was prevented by the natural death of Jim Genna in 1931. The two surviving brothers withdrew from the criminal life. All six Genna brothers were buried in the Mount Carmel Cemetery in Chicago.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ www.crimelibrary.com ( Memento of the original dated February 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (English)  
2. ↑ The Death of Angelo Genna (English)
3. ↑ www.8ung.at ( Memento of the original from July 17th, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.