How the Mafia and U.S. Military Collaborated in WWII

hey there listen up although we're looking at the mafia in world war ii in this video let's not forget that the us had been grappling with the criminal underworld from the prohibition era of the 1920s today we're working with paradox interactive to show you their new game empire of sin build up your bootlegging empire in prohibition era chicago pick one of 14 historical mob bosses such as al capone stephanie sinclair or goldie go inform your gang and defend your territory from rival gangs manage your speakeasies supply chains and casinos and fight in turn-based combat to defend them click our link in the description below and get empire of sin now capisce how the mafia collaborated with the u.s military in world war ii on july 10 1943 allied troops began landing on the southern coast of sicily operation husky began with the aim of conquering the island and establishing a base for future operations on the italian mainland this was to be the first step in penetrating hitler's fortress in europe the operation was an enormous project never in the history of warfare as one force carried out such a large amphibious operation in order to conquer the island the allies needed to surprise the enemy and more importantly be quick enough in reaching the northernmost tip of the island before enemy reinforcements could arrive to do this they needed a formidable knowledge of the terrain and the infrastructure and if possible gain support of the friendly local population the united states office of naval intelligence at the time lacked the infrastructure to gather valuable information about the island that was why they decided to make a pact with an unusual ally one that knew everything about the island the sicilian mafia the mafia had long been the de facto rulers of sicily they controlled almost the entire life of the island from trade to politics such a situation lasted until the early 1920s when the fascist regime rose to power in italy as enemies of the state within the newly proclaimed order the mafia were exposed to severe persecution by the iron perfect caesar mori who was directly appointed by mussolini to complete this task chief mafia leaders were either arrested or were forced to withdraw to remote areas of the island far from the reach of police after only a few years the island was relieved from mafia control this success earned mussolini applause from the entire world especially from the united states in the united states there was also a fight against the mafia going on even though organized crime was publicly denied the mafia was established in the states in the years between two world wars when the american east coast attracted enormous masses of italian immigrants half a million of them were sicilians who brought not only their customs and culture but also criminal organizations over the years this organization spread and established its control over the majority of illegal businesses on the east coast the strongest was the organization in new york led by charles lucky luciano as head of the national crime syndicate luciano was tried in 1936 and sentenced to a long lasting imprisonment of 30 to 50 years after his conviction for compulsory prostitution and on the 18th of june 1936 he was sent to new york state's maximum security prison at denmara it didn't prevent the mafia however from continuing to work swimmingly in the first several months upon entering the war the united states started to suffer significant losses in merchant ships due to the increased activity of german submarines in the atlantic some of the u-boats were operating as close as the new york harbor the u.s government feared that enemy activity was being aided by immigrants coming from an axis nation precisely italian americans frequent doc workers strikes at the time provoked the government to believe that something suspicious was going on the suspicions grew stronger when on february 9 1942 the uss lafayette a former french ss normandy ocean liner converted into a troop carrier caught on fire at new york harbor where it was docked american authorities suspected sabotage and conducted an investigation the problem was that the dock workers were under control of the mafia and were reluctant to speak out there was simply no way to break their code of silence desperate to discover if the country was threatened by saboteurs the office of naval intelligence approached the mafia for help namely its leader lucky luciano and this began the aptly named operation underworld after the war the navy strongly rejected all claims that any kind of arrangement was made but at the time luciano was transferred to great meadow a lower security level prison and then the dock strikes suddenly stopped confronted with intelligence gathering issues prior to the invasion of sicily the office of naval intelligence approached the mafia again in the spring of 1943. the task was assigned to commander charles r haffinden in command of the newly formed f section of the third naval district in new york this time lucky luciano and other new york mobsters were asked to bring in people from the old country able to provide data about the island this included information such as the structure of terrain and beaches coastline shape coastal waters and other information valuable for troops invading unknown territory they also provided knowledge on local customs and political and economical situations on the island hundreds of sicilian immigrants were brought to the office of naval intelligence their statements were used to create a detailed map of sicily filled with information that was more than helpful for allied troops on the ground more important for the allies was the information about the mafia leaders in sicily that were willing to collaborate once the invasion began sicily was guarded by italian and german troops the fact that the italian garrisons consisted mostly of sicilian soldiers was seen as an advantage by the allies they believe the influence of the local mafia leaders would convince citizens to help allied troops but also italian soldiers to give up fighting this would then turn the situation around and leave the germans fighting in hostile territory for the task four intelligence officers from the third naval district lieutenant anthony j marslow henson james f murray lieutenant joaquin tatolo and lieutenant paul a alfieri were sent from new york they landed with the first assault wave and established a connection with the mafia on the island on the very first day of the operation lieutenant alfieri managed to locate a hidden villa the headquarters of the italian naval command with the help of the mafia he stormed in and managed to steal valuable documents from the safe of the italian admiral documents he provided show the full disposition of the italian and german naval forces and overlays of minefields in the entire mediterranean sea this joint navy mafia operation saved thousands of lives of allied soldiers as the invasion progressed the job that was established by the office of naval intelligence was taken by the oss the collaboration with the local mafia proved to be more than valuable they served as guides helped put ports and other facilities back into work and organized civilians for labor in short they helped mghot or the allied military government of occupied territories to take control over the island with ease it came with a price though being the only people they could trust the allied military authorities appointed key mafia leaders as mayors of small towns across the island sicily was once again in the hands of the mafia and it not only affected the lives of the local population but the military as well the mafia organized looting of army depots in order to supply the growing black market it all happened with the tacit consent of the army the psychological warfare bureau is quoted as stating that certain mafia groups made up to 65 of their income from stolen allied supplies and that of all the supplies and equipment brought into italy approximately one third of this was lost to the black market but the us military saw the benefit of the arrangement with the mafia as worthy of the chaos they created after the war the arrangement proved to be even more valuable in preventing the ascent of the communist movement on the island today many historians believe that the story of the ally mafia cooperation was exaggerated and full of myths one such myth was about a u.s army airplane that had flown over the village of villalba with a gold banner with a black letter l fluttering from the cockpit this was supposed to be a signature of lucky luciano and an invitation to villagers to join the allies the mafia boss from villalba don calaguero vizzini welcomed the allies and even joined them on their progress through western sicily the myth goes that the influence of doncallo was crucial for the quick progress of u.s troops through the region despite being very successful cooperation with criminals was too much of a burden for the u.s navy and government despite all the testimonies of both mafia and the officers engaged in collaboration the u.s navy never publicly admitted that any kind of arrangement was made with the mafia after the war lucky luciano's sentence was commuted on the condition that he didn't resist deportation for his parole to be completed in italy he died in 1962 in naples from a heart attack after living out the rest of his life as a free man [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Simple History

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Keywords: simple history, animated history, educational, education, mafia, us military, Mafia collaboration, Sicily, Operation Husky, Hitler’s Fortress, Sicilian Mafia, Mussolini, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, nyc, chicago, newyork, National Crime Syndicate, Dannemora, crime, New York harbor, Axis, U.S. government, U-boats, S.S. Normandie, USS Lafayette, Office of Naval Intelligence, Operation Underworld, Charles R. Haffenden, dock strikes, Sicilian immigrants, Third Naval District, oss, godfather

Id: -58qPTizpGY

Length: 10min 47sec (647 seconds)

Published: Tue Dec 01 2020