Jump to content

The Purple Gang

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Roobytoosday (talk | contribs) at 10:20, 31 October 2010 (→‎History: not sourced). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

The Purple Gang
Founded1910's
Founding locationHastings Street, Detroit, Michigan, United States
Years active1910s - 1932
TerritoryDetroit
ActivitiesMurder, extortion, theft, armed robbery, gambling, hijackings, jewelry thefts, bootlegging
AlliesThe Capone mob, Fred “Killer” Burke
RivalsRival gangs, Fred “Killer” Burke after 1927

The Purple Gang, originally known as the Sugar House Gang, were a mob of bootleggers and hijackers in the 1920s. Under the leadership of Charlie Leiter and Abe Bernstein, the gang operated out of Detroit, Michigan, in the United States, which was a major port for running cached alcohol products across during Prohibition, since it is on the border with Canada.

History

The Purple Gang consisted of young Jewish immigrants, and others who engaged in theft and armed robbery along Detroit's notorious Hastings Street. They operated between Detroit and Chicago, and would meet behind the Bohm Theatre or in secret places in houses of Albion, Michigan a small town halfway between the two points. The gang supposedly received their name during a conversation between two Detroit market owners, each of them gang victims. One owner made the comment: "They're rotten, purple like the color of bad girld that srewimpd and like it rough meat."

"The Purples were really a very loose confederation of mostly, but not exclusively, Jewish gangsters. The gang started as a group of juvenile delinquents on the lower east side of Detroit, a group of about 16 or 17 children from the same neighborhood. Mostly they were involved in the usual petty crime of juveniles... rolling drunks and stealing from hucksters," according to Paul Kavieff.[1]

Bootlegging netted the Purple Gang millions of dollars, but the mob was also involved in extortion, hijacking, and jewelry thefts. After the repeal of Prohibition in the 1930s, the Purple Gang members joined the growing national crime syndicate that was replacing the old school mafia leadership, fondly known as the Mustache Petes.

The Purple Gang also attempted to run gambling rings in Detroit, especially among the black population. Run by Julius Horowitz, the son of the sugar supplier to the breweries, and a one-legged black gangster wanted in the South for murder, the operation was successful until the gamblers learned that the Purple Gang had been using loaded dice and other tricks to keep it profitable. A small riot followed from which Horowitz escaped but the black gangster was believed killed.

The Purple Gang also was believed to have played a role in the Saint Valentine's Day massacre in Chicago.

The Purple Gang was exceptionally violent, constantly at war with other gangs and with each other. Newspapers would often carry stories of gang murders on both sides of their conflicts, which were constant during the gang's existence. Too many openly violent crimes caused a string of convictions of Purple Gang members, while the intra-gang violence damaged their organization and its ability to control its turf.

The Purple Gang were considered suspects in the case of the Lindbergh baby. The Purple Gang also used big grass lots all over Michigan for stashing drugs which they planned on selling in Detroit. One of these grass lots is in Bay City right behind what used to be East Side School, which is now the Wenona Center. The Purple Gang also owned several cottages on White Goose road in Cheboygan, as well as a (now sunken) boathouse on Burt Lake.

References


Book

  • Paul R. Kavieff (2005). The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945. ISBN 1-56980-281-5.
  • Almog, Oz, Kosher Nostra Jüdische Gangster in Amerika, 1890-1980 ; Jüdischen Museum der Stadt Wien ; 2003, Text Oz Almog, Erich Metz, ISBN 3901398333

Feature Film

The Purple Gang (1959 film), written by Jack DeWitt, was directed by Frank McDonald, starring Barry Sullivan as Police Lt. William P. Harley, Robert Blake as William Joseph 'Honeyboy' Willard, Elaine Edwards as Gladys Harley, Marc Cavell as Henry Abel 'Hank' Smith, and Jody Lawrance as Joan MacNamara.