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Prior to World War II the federal government primarily the Federal Bureau of Investigation
under director J. Edgar Hoover fought a shadow war against organized crime in particular the Italian
Mafia around the country. This struggle sometimes played out in high profile situations against
bootleggers, illegal gambling and extortion rackets as well as bank robbers, much of it tied
to the Italian mob and its established leadership. Ironically the Mafia would become an integral
part of America's war strategy and national security and help in winning World War II.
Why was the mafia brought into the war effort? What services did they provide?
How important was Lucky Luciano to winning World War II and what made him agree to such a deal?
Hello I'm Colin Heaton a veteran of the United States Army and Marine
Corps former history professor book author and welcome to this episode of Forgotten History
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The five families were organized by Salvatore Maranzano in New York City. Luciano was unlike
his fellow mob bosses who only worked with Italians and in some cases only Sicilians.
Luciano would work with anyone if it was good business including Joseph Kennedy Sr.
and the Irish mob during prohibition and the Jewish mob whose primary leader was
his childhood friend Meyer Lansky and his friend Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.
Luciano wanted to modernize and create a national crime syndicate combining the
resources of Italian, Jewish and Irish mobs. His organizational skills allowed these groups to pull
their resources together and turn organized crime into a lucrative business for everyone
despite opposition from Maranzano. This plan became a reality following the conference in
Atlantic City attended by Luciano, Johnny Torio, Meyer Lansky and Frank Costello in May 1929.
Luciano's skills at organization and control would benefit him and the United States later.
Following the murder of Maranzano in September 1931 "The Commission" was organized by Charles
"Lucky" Luciano. The Commission consisted of the bosses of the five families, names legendary
in the underworld such as Carlo Gambino, Joseph Profaci who led the Colombo family,
Genovese family, Joseph Bonanno and the Lucchesi family originally called the Gagliano family after
Thomas "Tommy" Gagliano as well as the bosses of the Chicago outfit led by Al Capone and
the Philadelphia, Detroit and Buffalo Mafia. In 1936 Luciano was tried and convicted for running
illegal gambling, extortion, bookmaking, loan sharking, drug trafficking, prostitution and
other corrupt businesses by district attorney Thomas E. Dewey and he was sentenced to 30 to
50 years in prison. If he somehow lived out his sentence he was to be deported back to Sicily.
However Luciano's mob controlled the Longshoremen who worked the docks in not just New York but also
handled the unloading and offloading of ships in every major port in the nation. Luciano's
mob controlled the Manhattan waterfront, garbage collection, construction the Garment District
businesses and interstate trucking. All of these organizations had powerful mob controlled unions.
Luciano's legal appeals continued until October 10, 1938 when the U.S Supreme Court refused to
hear his case. Luciano who had been incarcerated at the Sing Sing Correctional facility
in Ossining, New York until he was moved to Clinton Correctional Facility in Dannemora. This
relocation was to remove him from all contact with the mob and Luciano officially stepped down as
family boss and Frank Costello formally replaced him but this was merely for optics as Luciano was
still in command even from prison and Castello his trusted associate was his most trusted Capo
issuing his orders. After the U.S entered World War II the government and the military struck a
secret deal with the imprisoned Luciano. In 1942 the Office of Naval Intelligence was concerned
about German and Italian agents entering the country through the New York Waterfront. 33
German agents had just been sentenced to more than 300 years in prison by a Brooklyn Court in just
the month of January 1942 alone. There was also a great concern about potential sabotage to war
supplies and ships following the sinking of the SS Normandy in New York City's pier 88 on February 9,
1942. It was well known that German spies were in New York possibly passing on shipping information.
The Normandy a French luxury ship constructed in 1931 had been interned with her crew in the
war broke out in Europe. Despite no concrete evidence of sabotage that caused the fire the
alert had been sounded. The U.S military knowing that the Mafia controlled the waterfront created
a situation that prompted the U.S Navy to contact Lansky about a deal with Luciano.
The Secretary of the Navy Frank Knox spoke with President Franklin D. Roosevelt about
the security concern so this agreement was settled at the highest level.
To facilitate negotiations Luciano was transferred to Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Comstock,
New York which was much closer to New York City allowing him to have more direct contact.
The German U-Boat fleets had been waging a relentless campaign against transatlantic shipping
since the war in Europe began and this effort only accelerated once America entered the war. Indeed
German U-boats operating off the American east coast saw 59 Merchant ships totaling 276,795 tons
sunk in January 1942 alone. In March of that same year they sank 95 ships weighing in at 534,000
64 tons. This was what the Germans called "The Happy Time". It was believed that German and
Italian-born Americans working in the area were supplying the information on ship departures and
cargoes> The mob was to locate these informants and report back to the Navy, FBI as well as the
New York City Police. Lansky's crews provided Naval Intelligence with names, strangers were
followed and information submitted. The mob was not to take direct action just submit information.
In fact following this agreement several German spies were actually captured operating in New
York as a result. In 1943 the Allied planned Operation Husky the invasion of Sicily under
German occupation was commencing. Once again Luciano and the mob were called upon as they
all had family there and Mussolini had launched a ruthless pogrom against the Mafia starting in
the 1920s that forced many mobsters to come to the United States. In fact Winston Churchill appealed
to Roosevelt to use Italian Americans especially those with Sicilian connections as intelligence
operatives prior to the invasion. Roosevelt agreed and he wrote a letter to Churchill that said
"In view of the friendly feeling towards America entertained by a great number of citizens of
Italy and in consideration of the large number of citizens of the United States who are of Italian
descent it is my opinion that our military problem will be made less difficult by giving to the
Allied military government in Sicily as much of an American character as is practicable." The office
of strategic services or OSS began recruiting Americans who spoke not only Italian but also
the various dialects in Sicily and especially those who were Sicilian born and had family there.
This was more than an undercover counterinsurgency and intelligence gathering operation it was pure
propaganda genius with Vito Genovese as the acting boss passing along Luciano's orders.
Another deal was made. Meyer Lansky then placed U.S intelligence in contact with these valuable
assets who had these connections and landing sites and airborne drop zones were selected as
a result of the locations and support provided by the locals. Native born or American Sicilian OSS
operatives were parachuted in and they organized the resistance movements, gathered Intelligence on
German troop strengths and positions, conducted sabotage and assisted as 160,000 Allied troops
knifed through the country with local assistance. Later during the invasion of Italy in 1944 prior
to the Anzio landings other Italian operatives were used to follow the same format as in Sicily
possibly saving untold numbers of American, British, Polish and other Allied forces lives.
This was especially true as Lieutenant General Mark Clark's Fifth Army raced towards Rome taking
the Eternal City on June 5th 1944. in 1946 for his wartime cooperation Luciano's sentence was
commuted on the condition that he be deported to Italy. Luciano died in Naples, Italy on
January 26, 1962 and his body was permitted to be transported back to the United States for burial.
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