Made Man
A Made Man ( made man ) is in the American mafia , a term for a full-fledged member of the Mafia in the United States. Other common names for the members are: Made Guy , Soldato , Full Member , Man of Honor (Italian: uomo d'onore ), " One of Us ", " A Friend of Ours ", Goodfella and Wise Guy , with the latter two Terms, like the word mobster , are often used for people who are not full members, but close allies or associates . Only men of purely Italian descent can become full members of the American Cosa Nostra .
In the Sicilian Mafia, the Cosa Nostra , the common term for a full member is “ uomo d'onore ”, or in Sicilian “ omu d'onuri ”. The term “ Mafioso ”, on the other hand, is not used by the men of honor and has been popularized by the authorities and the media.
overview
In Sicily, strict attention was paid to the origin of the members: in principle, they were always Sicilians. In the USA, however, this separation within the Cosa Nostra could not be maintained. So the so-called Unione Siciliana finally opened up to Italian non-Sicilians such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano , who in turn worked with both the Calabrese Frank Costello and Vito Genovese , who was a Neapolitan.
Traditionally, a recruit in the American Cosa Nostra must be a man of purely Italian (preferably Sicilian) descent. For example, the famous mobster Henry Hill , who was an associate of the New York Lucchese family , could never become a full member of the Cosa Nostra because his mother was Italian, but his father was Irish. This fact was also discussed in Martin Scorsese's 1990 film Good Fellas - Three Decades in the Mafia . Today it is assumed that the Italian-American Mafia temporarily relaxed this requirement, so that for a while men of half-Italian descent could also be accepted into the Cosa Nostra. For example, John Gotti's son, John Angelo Gotti III, was not of full Italian ancestry since his maternal grandmother was from Russia. Also the mother of Frank Salemme , the former boss of the Patriarca family from New England, was of Irish descent, while his father was Italian.
According to the Pentito Salvatore Vitale , the American Mafia Commission is said to have decided during a meeting in 2000 that a recruit must again be exclusively of Italian descent. This statement is believed to be correct by the authorities. The background is the increased pressure to investigate the Mafia, which has led to the fact that only men with exclusively Italian roots are taken into trust again, as they are considered to be more reliable.
A police officer or family member of a police officer or investigator cannot become a member of the American Cosa Nostra. Henry Borelli, who had been a member of the DeMeo crew, could never become a member of the New York Gambino family , since he had taken an entrance exam of the NYPD in the 1970s . An exception, however, was Ron "Big Ron" Previte , a soldato of the Bruno family ( Philadelphia Crime Family ), who had been a corrupt police officer before he was accepted into the Bruno family by Nicodemo Scarfo .
Traditionally, the potential, commitment and loyalty of the recruit are tested for a while before being accepted into the Cosa Nostra. In some cases, he even has to commit murder in order to be admitted to prove that he is not an undercover agent. In mafia circles the first murder assignment is called “making your bones” , and if you have fulfilled this, you get the title “button man” (a “button man”, ie someone who pulls the trigger) or Hitman (executor). The FBI Special Agent Joseph Pistone alias "Donnie Brasco", who was undercover in the New York Bonanno family , made these facts known to the authorities first hand.
Provides a Made Man another man made the Cosa Nostra a third full member present, the phrase "a friend of ours" (often a friend of ours ) is used, which provides that it is also a made man and openly with him, therefore, can be spoken. Provides a Made Man another man made an associated Gangster or potential recruits before, not a full member of the Cosa Nostra, he used instead the expression "a friend of mine" ( a friend of mine ).
Made men are commanded as soldiers by a capo or capo regime , who in turn reports to his boss (Don) or his sub- boss or consigliere (advisor).
If a new member is to be accepted into a family, the recruiter receives a call with the order to be well dressed to be ready for his pickup.
After being picked up, either alone or with other recognized full members, he is brought to a room where the boss holds the acceptance ceremony in the presence of at least one other Made Man: The family boss accepts a new member by taking some blood from the The new member's “trigger finger” drips onto a picture of a saint (mostly Francis of Assisi or the Virgin Mary ), burns the picture, places it in his hands and makes him take an oath and swear by the “ Omertà ”. The sworn oath can vary from family to family, but is traditionally something like this: “As this card burns, may my soul burn in Hell if I betray the oath of Omertà” or “As burns this saint, so will burn my soul. I enter alive and I will have to get out dead. "
A made man is usually considered “untouchable” and is mostly always feared and respected at the same time. A physical attack on him or an attack on his life is strictly prohibited without the permission of the so-called American Mafia Commission and a mortal sin, which is usually punished with death. For example, Thomas DeSimone , a notorious associate of the Lucchese family, fell victim to a so-called Lupara Bianca for murdering Gambino soldier William "Billy Batts" Bentvena without permission . This incident was also picked up in Scorsese's film "Goodfellas".
Individual evidence
- ↑ Selwyn Raab: Five Families: The Rise, Decline and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires . St. Martin Press, 2005, ISBN 0-312-36181-5 , p. 704.
- ↑ Selwyn Raab: Five Families: The Rise, Decline and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires . St. Martin Press, 2005, ISBN 0-312-36181-5 , p. 635.
- ↑ "United States Versus James V. Delaurentis" Archived copy ( Memento of the original from August 25, 2010 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.
- ↑ a b The Underboss by Peter Maas .
- ↑ The American Mafia - Underworld slang ( Memento of the original from May 25, 2008 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.
- ↑ Maas, The Valachi Papers, p. 32
- ^ "Mafia oath presented for jurors". EDMUND MAHONY The Hartford Courant , July 4, 1991
- ↑ The FBI's 'made' man . Michael Heaton, Plain Dealer 08/31/03
- ^ Nicholas Pileggi: Wiseguy . Simon and Schuster, 1990, ISBN 9780671723224 , pp. 226-234.
