Jacob Katzenberg

Jacob "Yasha" Katzenberg (* 1888 in the Russian Empire ; † in the 20th century) was an American mobster and member of organized crime in New York . Today it is included in the so-called " Kosher Nostra ".

According to the authorities, Katzenberg, as the gang leader of a drug smuggling ring, was very much involved in the international drug trade of the 1920s and 1930s. Katzenberg overseas supplied criminal gangs around mobsters such as Arnold Rothstein , Charles Luciano , Meyer Lansky , Waxey Gordon , Johnny Torrio , Dutch Schultz and Louis Buchalter with opium , which was then sold on nationally. Consisting of China originating opium brought Katzenberg nicknamed "Yasha the wandering Jew " a (Yasha At a committee meeting of the League of Nations in 1937, Katzenberg was described as an international threat.

Life

Katzenberg was born in the Russian Empire. After emigrating to the United States of America, the family lived on the Lower East Side of New York City. In the mid-1920s, Katzenberg began to work with the mobster Arnold Rothstein and supplied the Rothstein gang with opium, which he initially obtained from Europe . When Rothstein was shot in 1928, Katzenberg had already done initial business with other high-ranking figures from organized crime. His partners included Meyer Lansky, Charles Luciano and Louis Buchalter.

After the League of Nations enforced regulations regarding the restriction of medically used drugs in the 1930s and it was no longer possible to purchase opium in Europe, Katzenberg traveled to Asia and made contacts with various suppliers there. This was followed by several drug deliveries from Shanghai , Hong Kong and the Japanese Tientsin concession in China, which, according to the authorities, brought in several million dollars for those involved. The drug smugglers who were directly involved in the transport tried to give the impression that they were just tourists and globetrotters .

An opium processing plant was also built in a residential building on Seymour Avenue in New York City. Behind the project were the leading figures of New York Kosher Nostra Meyer Lansky, Louis Buchalter and Jacob Katzenberg. After an explosion in December 1935 that destroyed much of the facility, the authorities intervened. However, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Narcotics were initially unable to secure sufficient evidence of the involvement of the named people.

In the late 1930s, informants succeeded in getting the drug ring exposed, and various charges and arrest warrants against a large number of people followed. Jacob Katzenberg fled to Romania , was arrested by the local authorities and - instead of to the United States - initially extradited to Greece . From there he was eventually transferred to the United States, indicted and sentenced in November 1938 to a fine of ten thousand dollars and a ten-year prison term. He then appeared as a witness in the drug trials against Johnny Torrio and Louis Buchalter. After serving his prison sentence, the trail of Jacob Katzenberg is lost. To this day, nothing is known about his further fate.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Time.com: Opium and Morphine 1938
2. ↑ ^{a b} Yasha, "The Wandering Jew" Allan May
3. ↑ Leader of Narcotic Ring Is Sentenced To Ten Years in Prison and Fined $ 10,000 New York Times , December 1, 1938 (English)
4. ↑ Traffic In Opium And Other Dangerous Drugs ( Memento of the original from February 27, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 14.2 MB) Federal Bureau of Narcotics 1941, p. 16  
5. ↑ Time.com: Opium and Morphine 1938
6. ↑ Leader of Narcotic Ring Is Sentenced To Ten Years in Prison and Fined $ 10,000 New York Times , December 1, 1938 (English)