Seven Group

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Seven Group , also known as the Big Seven or Combine (am: amalgamation), was an American illegal alcohol cartel on the east coast of the United States during alcohol prohibition .

It can in some ways be seen as the forerunner of the National Crime Syndicate that formed after the Castellammare War in 1931 .

After the classic gang system had collapsed, especially in New York City , organized crime formed anew. In particular, the Volstead Act of 1919 made it possible to enter the new illegal alcohol market.

Initially individuals and gangs were active in the field, but the violent confrontation turned out to be bad for the illegal profits; collaboration seemed more lucrative.

John Torrio ( "Papa Johnny") was back in the 1930s in the United States to participate in the trial of Al Capone testify, and acted as adviser to the group because it is already labeled as " statesman Elder " and consigliere in the world of mobsters viewed has been. He also recommended underworld bosses such as Lucky Luciano in New York City to set up a nationwide criminal syndicate instead of rubbing out the forces in constant bloody clashes between smaller gangs.

The childhood friends Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky were quick to follow Arnold Rothstein's ideas ; together they formed the Broadway mob that fed parts of New York City . Other members of the La Cosa Nostra were Frank Costello (Manhattan), Joe Adonis (Brooklyn); further Kosher Nostras Abner Zwillman (New Jersey) and Harry Rosen (Philadelphia). Another notable member of the group was Jimmy Hines . Other members of the Bugs and Meyer Mob often acted as the armed arm of the "Big Seven".

Presumably, Waxey Gordon alone with his organization controlled more alcohol than corresponding gangs of the American La Cosa Nostra . Waxey Gordon supplied the neighborhoods that were not served by the Broadway mob with his cheap booze . In the New York City metropolitan area, the Kosher Nostras controlled 70% of the black market, the American La Cosa Nostra 25% and the rest was operated by Irish gangs or other groups.

When Vincent Coll wanted to get into the business in the course of his conflict with Owney Madden and Dutch Schultz and murdered at least ten members of the "Combine", including Carmine Borelli , who refused to lure his boss Dutch Schultz into an ambush, the group hit back and murdered his brother Peter Coll .

After Rothstein's death in 1928, the group continued to establish itself and asserted its interests at the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. Louis Buchalter originally referred to Murder, Inc. as "The Combination"; apparently based on the tried and tested collaboration in the Seven Group , which was also known as the Combine .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ John Dickie: Cosa Nostra: The History of the Mafia , Frankfurt a. M. 2006, Fischer Verlag, ISBN 978-3-596-17106-4

literature