Jake Guzik
Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik (born May 20, 1886 near Krakow , † February 21, 1956 in Chicago ) was an American mobster and a close associate of the Chicago Outfit , which he long as the chief financial, legal and later also Policy advisor served.
He got his nickname "Greasy Thumb" because his advisory work consisted in particular of influencing the political environment, the police, the judiciary and politics with bribes.
Life
Probably born near Krakow, he came to the USA around 1902 . His parents were from Katowice . Later he was - partly together with his brother Harry Guzik - active in the business of prostitution , forced prostitution and protection rackets in the south side of Chicago , which he increasingly ousted his rival Jack Zuta .
In the early 1920s, he learned of plans to assassinate Al Capone , informed him and soon became his closest ally and collaborator. Guzik became the organization's treasurer and fundraiser and until his death in 1956 his word carried weight with the full members of the Outfit .
Small in stature, short-sighted , overweight and averse to physical violence, unable to use a weapon, he was mentally far superior to Capone and most bullies, who did not question this superiority any more than his loyalty to the organization and his personal attachment to Capone himself who always protected Guzik from everyone. An episode that occurred in 1924 is indicative of this: When Guzik was beaten up by a man in a bar and cursed as a "Jew bully", Al Capone later confronted this man and reproached him for "howling the little Jew" would have brought. When he replied "Go back to your girls, you spaghetti-eater pimp", Al Capone without a word drew his revolver, held it to his head and emptied the whole drum.
Guzik died of a heart attack while he was eating . Chicago's largest synagogue was fully occupied at its funeral service and had more people of Italian origin - and thus mostly Christian / Catholic - visitors than ever before.
Literature (selection)
- Robert J. Kelly: Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States . Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000
- Carl Sifakis: The Encyclopedia of American Crime . New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001
- John Binder: The Chicago Outfit . Arcadia Publishing, 2003
- Oz Almog: Kosher Nostra Jewish gangsters in America, 1890–1980; Jewish Museum of the City of Vienna, 2003
- Carl Sifakis: The Mafia Encyclopedia . New York: Da Capo Press, 2005
Web links (selection)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Guzik, Jake |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Guzik, Greasy Thumb (nickname) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Jewish-American mobster |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 20, 1886 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | near Krakow |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 21, 1956 |
| Place of death | Chicago |