New Jersey Minutemen

Last updated
Nat Arno (center) with the Minutemen Minutemen002.jpg
Nat Arno (center) with the Minutemen
Nat Arno (The Bayonne Times, 1931) Nat Arno 1931 Bayonne Times.jpg
Nat Arno (The Bayonne Times, 1931)

The New Jersey Minutemen were a militant anti-fascist group that operated in Newark, New Jersey from 1933 to 1941. They were antagonists of the pro-Nazi German American Bund and the Christian Front group inspired by Fr. Charles Coughlin's Social Justice doctrines. The commander of the Minutemen was a former featherweight [1] and lightweight [2] class boxer of Jewish ancestry, Nat Arno (April 1, 1910 – August 8, 1973). [3] [4] The group was organized at the behest of New Jersey-based Jewish-American organized crime leader Abner Zwillman. [3] The membership consisted of "tough guys...recruited from Zwillman's Third Ward gang." [3] According to one historian, "The mob hastened the Bund's demise by introducing mortal risks to its leadership." [5]

Contents

The Minutemen initially attacked a meeting of Friends of New Germany with pipes wrapped in cloth or rubber; three Friends of New Germany were injured. [3] This was followed shortly thereafter by a massive street fight outside the Schwabenhalle in Irvington, [6] a brawl that encompassed nearly 2,000 people over 12 city blocks, 20 injuries with three hospitalizations, and seven arrests. [3] [7] Two men in a black sedan shot at Nat Arno and another Anti-Nazi Minutemen leader Max Feilshus on Fourth of July 1934; Feilshus was hit in both legs. [8]

The "hoodlums" of the Minutemen coordinated with S. William Kalb of the respectable Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League. They had different approaches to the shared goal of disarming antisemitism and Nazism in New Jersey before World War II. [9]

A similar program dedicated to punching Nazis was organized by Meyer Lansky in New York. Lansky's efforts—which included 1938's so-called Battle of Yorkville Casino, in which 60 Jewish-American World War I vets wearing American Legion caps fought the 1,000-strong German American Bund at a birthday party for Hitler [10] —were partly at the behest of former U.S. Congressman Nathan Perlman and Rabbi Stephen S. Wise. [11] Lansky put together a team for this work that included the likes of Bugsy Siegel, Lepke Buchalter, Gurrah Shapiro, Tick Tock Tannenbaum, and Blue Jaw Magoon. [5] Lansky and Siegel declined an offer of payment for these services, considering it, rather, a duty and an honor. [12] [13] Lansky, who referred to the Bundists as brownshirts , later said "The main point was to teach them that Jews couldn't be kicked around." [11]

In both states, respectable leadership involved with the campaign specified "no killing please" even though the lower-level muscle were willing to provide additional violence. [9] [14] Meanwhile, opposing the rise of American fascism was sound policy for criminal underground leaders whose business prospects would likely be compromised by the rise of an authoritarian regime; Mussolini, for his part, had not been a particular ally of the Sicilian Mafia. [11] [5]

The New Jersey Minutemen took their name from the Continental Minutemen rapid-reaction militia of the American Revolutionary War. The slogan of the New Jersey Minutemen was "No Ism But American-Ism." [3]

Nat Arno enlisted on January 1, 1941 [15] and served as a sergeant in the infantry of the U.S. Army during World War II. [16] [17] He later moved to California, started a family there and died in 1973. [15]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucky Luciano</span> Italian American mobster (1897–1962)

Charles "Lucky" Luciano was an Italian-born gangster who operated mainly in the United States. He started his criminal career in the Five Points Gang and was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano is considered the father of the Italian-American Mafia for the establishment of the Commission in 1931, after he abolished the boss of bosses title held by Salvatore Maranzano following the Castellammarese War. He was also the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bugsy Siegel</span> American mobster (1906–1947)

Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel was an American mobster who was a driving force behind the development of the Las Vegas Strip. Siegel was influential within the Jewish Mob, along with his childhood friend and fellow gangster Meyer Lansky, and he also held significant influence within the Italian-American Mafia and the largely Italian-Jewish National Crime Syndicate. Described as handsome and charismatic, he became one of the first front-page celebrity gangsters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Meyer Lansky</span> Russian-American gangster (1902–1983)

Meyer Lansky, known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the National Crime Syndicate in the United States.

The National Crime Syndicate was a multi-ethnic, closely connected, American confederation of several criminal organizations. It mostly consisted of and was led by the closely interconnected Italian American Mafia and Jewish Mob. It also involved, to a lesser extent, other ethnic criminal organizations such as the Irish Mob and African-American crime groups. Hundreds of murders were committed by Murder, Inc. on behalf of the National Crime Syndicate during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Havana Conference of 1946 was a historic meeting of United States Mafia and Cosa Nostra leaders in Havana, Cuba. Supposedly arranged by Charles "Lucky" Luciano, the conference was held to discuss important mob policies, rules, and business interests. The Havana Conference was attended by delegations representing crime families throughout the United States. The conference was held during the week of December 22, 1946, at the Hotel Nacional. The Havana Conference is considered to have been the most important mob summit since the Atlantic City Conference of 1929. Decisions made in Havana resonated throughout US crime families during the ensuing decades.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abner Zwillman</span> American mob boss

Abner "Longie" Zwillman was a Jewish-American mobster who was based primarily in North Jersey. He was a longtime friend and associate of mobsters Lucky Luciano and Meyer Lansky. Zwillman's criminal organization was a part of the National Crime Syndicate and mainly operated from the 1920s to the 1950s, with its peak in the late 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nathan D. Perlman</span> American politician

Nathan David Perlman was an American lawyer and politician from New York who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from 1920 to 1927.

The DeCavalcante crime family, also known as the North Jersey crime family or the North Jersey Mafia, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family that operates mainly in northern New Jersey, particularly in Elizabeth, Newark, West New York and the surrounding areas. The family is part of the nationwide criminal network known as the American Mafia.

The Bugs (Bugsy) and Meyer Mob was a Jewish-American street gang in Manhattan, New York City's Lower East Side. It was formed and headed by mobsters Bugsy Siegel and Meyer Lansky during their teenage years shortly after the start of Prohibition. The Bugs and Meyer mob acted as a predecessor to Murder, Inc.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewish-American organized crime</span> Jewish Mob or the Jewish Mafia

Jewish-American organized crime initially emerged within the American Jewish community during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In media and popular culture, it has variously been referred to as the Jewish Mob, the Jewish Mafia, the Kosher Mob, the Kosher Mafia, the Yiddish Connection, and Kosher Nostra or Undzer Shtik. The last two of these terms are direct references to the Italian Cosa Nostra; the former is a play on the word for kosher, referring to Jewish dietary laws, while the latter is a calque of the Italian phrase 'cosa nostra' into Yiddish, which was at the time the predominant language of the Jewish diaspora in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic City Conference</span> 1929 summit of organized crime leaders

The Atlantic City Conference held between 13–16 May 1929 was a historic summit of leaders of organized crime in the United States. It is considered by most crime historians to be the earliest organized crime summit held in the US. The conference had a major impact on the future direction of the criminal underworld and it held more importance and significance than the Havana Conference of 1946 and the Apalachin meeting of 1957. It also represented the first concrete move toward a National Crime Syndicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jacob Shapiro</span> American mob boss

Jacob "Gurrah" Shapiro was a New York mobster who, with his partner Louis "Lepke" Buchalter, controlled industrial labor racketeering in New York for two decades and established the Murder, Inc. organization.

Harry Tietlebaum or Teitelbaum was an American organized crime figure in New York's underworld during Prohibition as he was associated of the Bug and Meyer Mob. He was later part of a major heroin smuggling operation with Meyer Lansky and Harry "Nig" Rosen during the early 1930s.

Joseph Stacher was a Jewish syndicate leader who helped bring together the Jewish and Italian Mafia into a national organized crime syndicate.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Underworld</span> US intelligence operation, involving cooperation with mobsters

Operation Underworld was the United States government's code name for its co-operation with the Italian-American Mafia and Jewish organized-crime figures from 1942 to 1945. The operation aimed to counter Axis spies and saboteurs along the U.S. northeastern seaboard ports, to avoid wartime labor-union strikes, and to limit theft by black marketeers of vital war supplies and equipment.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerardo Catena</span> Italian-American mob boss

Gerardo "Jerry" Catena was an American mobster and a top member of the Genovese crime family during the 1950s and 1960s, along with Thomas "Tommy Ryan" Eboli, Philip "Benny Squint" Lombardo and Michael "Big Mike" Miranda. He was ranked as the fourth richest mobster in the United States by Fortune magazine.

Ruggiero Boiardo, also known as "the Boot", was an Italian-American mobster and powerful Caporegime in the New Jersey faction of the Genovese crime family. He was named Capo after Willie Moretti was promoted to the position of underboss by Frank Costello. Richie the Boot ruled the greater Newark and North Jersey gang territories for over three decades.

The Genovese crime family's New Jersey faction is a group of Italian-American mobsters within the Genovese crime family who control organized crime activities within the state of New Jersey. The New Jersey faction is divided into multiple crews each led by a different caporegime who oversees illegal criminal activities in labor racketeering, illegal gambling, loansharking and extortion. The Genovese crime family's New Jersey faction has maintained a strong presence in the Northern Jersey area since the early prohibition era. A number of powerful mobsters within the New Jersey faction such as Guarino "Willie" Moretti, Gerardo "Jerry" Catena and Louis "Bobby" Manna have each held positions within the Genovese family's administration. From the 1990s until his death in 2010, Tino "the Greek" Fiumara was one of the most powerful caporegimes in the New Jersey faction.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Hoff (mobster)</span>

Max "Boo Boo" Hoff was an ex-boxer who later became a bootlegger and gambler.

The history of Jews in New Jersey started with the arrival of Dutch and English traders and settlers in the late 1600s. According to the Berman Jewish DataBank's 2019 survey, New Jersey is the state with the fourth-highest total population of Jews at 545,450 and is also the state with the third highest percent of Jews at 6.1%. This means that New Jersey is home to 7.8% of the American Jewish population.

References

  1. ↑ "The Washington times, Washington, D.C. 1902-1939, July 24, 1928, Image 15". 1928-07-24. ISSN   1941-0697 . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  2. ↑ "The Washington Times, Washington, D.C., 1902-1939, February 05, 1931, Image 26". 1931-02-05. p. 26. ISSN   1941-0697 . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grover, Warren (December 15, 2021). "Minute Men document discovered after 80 years: Local historian learns more about how Jewish thugs saved Newark from the Nazis". Jewish Standard . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  4. ↑ Source Citation Place: Los Angeles; Date: 8 Aug 1973; Social Security: 145229235 Source Information Ancestry.com. California, U.S., Death Index, 1940-1997[database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2000.
  5. 1 2 3 Dezenhall, Eric (September 2011). "Operation Underworld". American Spectator . Vol. 44, no. 7.
  6. ↑ Rockaway, Robert (2018-07-03). "Gangsters vs. Nazis: How the Jewish Mob fought American admirers of the Third Reich". Tablet Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  7. ↑ "NAZI GATHERING ENDS IN A BRAWL; 800 Leaving Newark Hall Are Met by 1,000 in Street; 12 Hurt, 7 Arrested". The New York Times . 1933-10-17. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  8. ↑ Rose, Jerome (1934-07-05). "Newark Foe of Nazis Shot at Curb". New York Daily News . p. 192. Retrieved 2023-02-23– via Newspapers.com.
  9. 1 2 Alexander, Michael (2005). "Nazis in Newark (review)". Jewish Quarterly Review . 95 (2): 418–419. doi:10.1353/jqr.2005.0047. ISSN   1553-0604. S2CID   162324437.
  10. ↑ "U.S. Veterans Lose Battle with Germans in Manhattan". LIFE . Vol. 4, no. 18. Time Inc. 1938-05-02. pp. 18–19 – via Internet Archive.
  11. 1 2 3 Blumberg, Arnold (August–September 2011). "Taking It To The Streets: The Battle of Manhattan". History. Vol. 12, no. 6. pp. 36–38.
  12. ↑ Santoro, Gene (July–August 2007). "The Navy's Friends in Low Places". World War II . Vol. 22, no. 4.
  13. ↑ Farley, Todd (2022-05-07). "Jewish gangsters once took on Nazis in the streets of NYC". New York Post . Retrieved 2023-02-23.
  14. ↑ Lovy, Howard (2022-06-09). "BEFORE WWII, JEWISH MOBSTERS FOUGHT NAZIS IN THE US -- WITH THEIR FISTS". Washington Jewish Week . Vol. 58, no. 23.
  15. 1 2 "U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs Beneficiary Identification Records Locator Subsystem (BIRLS) Death File, 1850-2010", Ancestry.com
  16. ↑ "Officer Accused of Extortion". The Courier-News. Bridgewater, N.J. 1947-04-03. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-02-23– via Newspapers.com.
  17. ↑ SIDNEY NAT ARNOLD Ancestry.com. U.S., World War II Jewish Servicemen Cards, 1942-1947 (Original data: Alphabetical Master Cards, 1942–1947; Series VI, Card Files—Bureau of War Records, Master Index Cards, 1943–1947; National Jewish Welfare Board, Bureau of War Records, 1940–1969; I-52; boxes 273–362. New York, New York: American Jewish Historical Society, Center for Jewish History)

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.