Button Guys thought it would be fun to research and compose a list of significant Jewish hoodlums and gangsters who operated across the United States over the years.

Admittedly, although this list is a very long one, what follows below is really just a scratching at the surface of the many thousands and thousands of Jews who were players — both large and small — within America’s underworld landscape. From coast to coast — New York to California — and nearly everyplace else in-between, the Jewish ‘element’ of organized crime helped shaped the face of gangsterism in America.

And now, in no particular order, Button Guys presents “Tough Jews”

NY & BEYOND:
Seymour Seltzer
Jules Polinger
Edmund Graifer
Irving (Blackie) Horowitz
Harry Gross
Martin Goldman
Joseph & Sylvia Winograd
Gerald Goldfarb
Murray Shebert
Danny Danzis
Max Mayer
Bernie Kasterling
Daniel (Danny) Kapilow
Murray Kapilow
Irving Weisgold
Herman (Hy Sands) Sandler
Jacob (Jack Mace) Maislich
Dave Hoffman
Norman Schottland
Leon Brown
Louis Schulback
Robert (Red Robby) Wisch
Leonard (Sonny) Klansky
Joseph Beserany
Frank Wolf
George Jackson
(Turk) Marlow
Louis Shomberg
Alan Pomerantz
David Marter
Morris Stein
Samuel L. Pratt
Charles Tremer
Seymour (Blue Jaw) Magoon
Leo Morris
Murray Rose
Jack (Spot) Comer
Harold (KO) Konigsberg
Otto (Abbadabba) Berman
Morris Rosen
Lou Kravitz
Sholem Bernstein
Irving (Waxey) Gordon
Arthur (Dutch Schultz) Fleigenheimer
Abe Landau
Abraham (Bo) Weinberg
George Weinberg
Bernard (Lulu) Rosenkrantz
Harold (Hooky) Rothman
Abe Bernstein
Abe (Kid Twist) Reles
Morris (Moe) Dalitz
Joseph Amberg
Louis (Pretty) Amberg
Hyman Amberg
Moses Annenberg
Louis Cohen
Nathan (Kid Dropper) Kaplan
Jacob (Little Augie) Orgen
Benjamin (Dopey Benny) Fein
Martin (Bugsy) Goldstein
Irving (Puggy) Feinstein
Harry (Gyp the Blood) Horowitz
Philip (Dandy Phil) Kastel
Lou Kravitz
Herman (Mugsy) Taylor
Abraham (Abe) Landau
Samuel (Nails) Morton
Hyman (Pittsburgh Hymie) Martin
Hyman Abrams
Hyman (Hymie) Amberg
Albert (Tick Tock) Tannenbaum
Emanuel (Mendy) Weiss
Jacob (Big Jack) Zelig
Hyman Greenspan
William (Big Gangy) Davidoff
Mark Davidoff
David Budin
Jack Weinstein
Carlton Auerbach
Jack Kapitofsky
David (Pop) Smith
Harold Basky
Samuel Bland
Milton (Milty) Wekar
Benjamin (Benny) Wekar
Morris (Moe) Block
Julius (Julie) Klein
Michael Hellerman
John Pullman
George Gordon
Joseph Sternfeld
Sam Green
Sylvan Ferdman
Jack Seicher
Jacob (Little Augie) Orgen
Sam Freidland
Milton Steinfield
Sam T. Haas
Harry (Pittsburgh Phil) Strauss
Ralph Goodman
Maier (Meyer) Joskowitz
Sam Terran
Seymour Sher
Solomon (Solly the Fox) Richman
Max (Max the Weasel) Lowenstein
Nathan (Kid Dropper) Kaplan
Joseph (The Greaser) Rosenzweig
Vach (Cyclone Louie) Louis
Max (Kid Twist) Zwerbach
Abraham (Whitey) Friedman
Abraham (Abe) Telvi
Benjamin (Benny the Boss) Tannenbaum
Boris (Biba) Neyfeld
Louis Sapperstein
Irving (Puggy) Feinstein
Harry (Gyp the Blood) Horowitz
Lou Kravitz
Herman (Mugsy) Taylor
Abraham (Abe) Landau
Samuel (Nails) Morton
Hyman (Pittsburgh Hymie) Martin
George (The Russian) Weintraub
Irving Levitt
(Fats) Cohen
Leo Sagal
Milton Parness
(Dutch) Goldberg
Max Drexler
Mortimer Brandenberg
Charley Marenoff
(Kiefie)
Jack Strum
Martin Benjamin
Sam Benton
Gerson Blatt
Steven (Blackie) Supakoff
Arthur Blatt
Jesse Hyman
Stanley Gramovot
Steve Burns
Herbert Kaminsky
Milton Green
Ernest (The Baron) Krum
Mervin Rosenthal
Seymour (Big Seymour) Siskind
Morton Zimmerman
Alfred Schiff
Allie Sprung
Bernie Howard
Ernest Milchman
Alan Pomerantz
Joseph Kaufman
Charles Kreindler
Jacob (Jack) Blun
Daniel Fuchs
Norman Rothman
Marvin Gutfleisch
Alex (Al Silver) Silverblatt
Joseph Weiner
Charlie P. Rosenberg
Hyman (Hymie) Dratt
Charles Goldberg
Jack Roth
Irving (Itsy Bitsy) Bitz
Hyman Wexler
Jack Silver
Sol Friedman
Jack Kleinstein
Richard Tannenholtz
Morris Becker
George Becker
Sidney Lieberman
Jack Lieberman
Frank Rothman
Morris Miller
Alfred Cohen
Jacob (Spunky Jack) Weiss
Charles Sattler
Jacob Simmons
Harry Epstein
Milton Holt
Joseph Gantz
Harry (Champ) Segal
David (Johnny Bananas) August
Meyer Goldstein
Alfred (Freddy) Kaplan
Jerome (Ike Walton) Kiselik
Fred Lansburg
Emanuel Lippman
Charles Beroth
Isadore (Izzy) Imberman
Bernard Adelstein
Sidney Lieberman
Benjamin Ladmer
Adam (Kid Adams) Rauch
Alex (Al) Cohen
Abraham (Abe) Cohen
Jack Davies
Max Gulden
Marty Dubin
Arthur (Tootsie) Herbert
Harry (Sandy) Sandler
David Krakauer
Herman Pincus
Joseph (Joe Rine) Rheinfeld
Harry (Sweeney) Rosenberg
Harry Siperstein
Herman Cohen
David Kayser
Jack Green
Morris Goldfarb
Sandy Mitchell
Lou Kravitz
Harry (Gyp the Blood) Horowitz
Abraham Friedman
—-
PHILADELPHIA, PA:
Max (Boo Boo) Hoff
Samuel (Shorty) Feldman
Max (Slick Willy) Weisberg
Samuel (Cappy) Hoffman
Irving (Shtarker) Blitz
Samuel Miller
Al (Silver Bullet) Silverberg
Sammy Weinberg
Jakie Newman
Solomon (Solly) Gleaner
Harry (Little Shooey) Siegel
Edward (Eddie Bones) Gale
Buck Mayer
Sylvan (Cherry Hill Fats) Skolnick
Louis (Fats) Barrish
(Big Nose) Weiss
Herman (Whitey) Cohen
Sy Green
Mickey Tanitsky
Abe Glassman
Samuel (Sappy) Margolies
Eddie Serody
Isidore (Izzy) Spann
Martin (King of the Jews) Batoff
Morris Passon
Samuel (The Colonel) Schlenker
David Dushoff
Harry (Speedy) Spivak
Charles (Cholly) Needleman
Lew Tendler
Philip Tendler
Herman (Stumpy Orman) Oxman
Ralph (Tommy Foley) Katz
Max (Chickie) Rothman
Irving (Johnny Rosen) Greenberg
Jeff Newman
Morris (Moe) Newman
Dallas Gerson
Herbert (Herbie) Sperling
Willy Sklaroff
Edward (Izzy) Lavner
(Lefty) Katz
Benjamin (Ben) Corson
Harry Davis
Eddie Gottlieb
Harry (ni**er Rosen) Stromberg
Jacob Kossman
Milton (Milty) Jacobs
Al Orloff
Harry (Harry Mandel) Mendleblatt
Jack Berk
Julius (Big Julie) Paul
Harry (Doc Jasper) Sagansky
Abraham (Abe) Minker
Isadore (Izzy) Minker
Henry Fudeman
Alec Minker
William Minker
Alexander (Alex) Fudeman
Louis Fudeman
Ralph S. Kreitz
Aman Jacobs
Lewis J. Baron
Samuel (Sam Bell) Guralnick
Oscar Johnson
Louis (Louie Gold) Feingold
Benjamin Kurland
-
READING, PA:
Abraham (Abe) Minker
Isadore (Izzy) Minker
Alexander (Alex) Fudeman
Louis Fudeman
Ralph S. Kreitz
Aman Jacobs
John A. (John Wittig) Witkowski
Nathan (Nat) Hindin
Ernest S. Arthur
Bruce H (Roxie) Light
Solomon J. Joulman
Michael (Mike Switz) Sirovetz
Walter Beiler
Marvin Weidner
John F. (Hyman) Hynemann
Abraham Markowitz
——
BUFFALO:
Samuel (Sam Frit) Freedman
Oscar Levant
Martin Siegel
Jacob (Jack Sharkey) Ehrenreich
Marshall Miles
Fred Perry
Herman Weinstein
Joseph Holtz
Michael Brodzinsky
Sam Cooper Jr
Mickey Seymour
Robert (Bobby) Bonach
Walter Bitner
Louis (Louie Gold) Goldman
Harry (Al) Rosen
Samuel Siegel
Arthur J. Froman
Julius (Jeep) Kramer
Samuel Abelson
Hyman (Hy) Becker
William (Willie) Nyman
Herbert Shafer
Melvin (Bert) Bolyar
Fred C. Smith
Joseph Linsey
Solomon (Solly) Redcliff
——-
BALTIMORE:
Julius (The Lord) Salsbury
Samuel (Sam Yorker) Horowitz
Julius (Blinky) Fink
Bernard (Bernie Brown) Braun
Max (Maxie the Mayor) Cohen
Maurice (Moe) Cohen
Issac (Ike) Sapperstein
Philip (Pacey) Silbert
Frederick Silbert
Michael (Meilech) Silbert
Maurice (Mooky) Silbert
Robert (Fifi) London
Benjamin (Hitty) Wildstein
George (Joe) Goldberg
Irvin Goldberg
Samuel Goldberg
Carroll (Cappy) Goldstein
Philip Hurwitz
Jerome Fribush
(Fats) Williams
Morris (Moe) Waller
Joseph Caplan
Samuel (Sulky) Caplan
Morris (Moe) Levy
Sam Olsan
William Blumberg
James (Jack) Pollack
——
CLEVELAND:
Alex (Shondor) Birns
Lou Rothkopf
Morris (Moe) Dalitz
Isidore (Kid Cann) Blumenfeld
Morris Kleinman
Arthur (Lefty) Clark
——
CHICAGO:
Jake Guzik
Ralph Pierce
Hyman Larner
Paul (Red) Dorfman
Allen Dorfman
Allan Glick
Ike Bloom
Gus Greenbaum
John (Jake) Factor
William (Willie) Bioff
Herbert (Fat Herbie) Blitzstein
Mike (The k*ke) Heitler
Moses Annenberg
Jack Entratter
Moe Sedway
Jacob (Jake) Klein
Alvin Malnik
Edward Vogel
Charles Weber
Joseph (Fifke) Corngold
Manny Skar
—-
DETROIT:
David Berman
Abe Berman
Joseph Berman
Ray Berman
Isidore Burnstein
Abe Bernstein
Harry Fleischer
Irving Milberg
Max (Big Maxie) Greenberg
Harry Keywell
—
MILWAUKEE:
Harold Klein
—-
BOSTON:
Charles (King) Solomon
Harry (Doc) Sagansky
Edward Rothstein
Abraham (Abe) Sarkis
Philip Kramer
——
L.A./SAN FRANCISCO:
Meyer (Mickey) Cohen
Harold (Happy) Meltzer
Irving G. Glasser
Louis Glasser
David Kessel
———

I did not know Arthur (Dutch Schultz) Fleigenheimer was Jewish.

Yep he was from a German family several Flegenheimers didn't survive the Holocaust.

We can add probably a lot more for Los Angeles.

Yes, Hollander, guaranteed for the money. Also, in places like Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago, etc. Like I mentioned, Although this list is relatively extensive, its but a scratch on the surface of all the Jewish hoodlums active over the years.

The Chicago Jewish list in this thread is a joke lol. There used to be at least 30 additional known Jewish gangsters and some on the list werent fully Jewish at all or didnt belong to Chicago lol lol For example, Hyman Levine, Harry and Sam Guzik, Louis Lipshultz, Dave and Sam Yaras, Lenny, Jack and Mike Patrick, Jens Larkin, Joe and Ben Epstein, the Caldwell bros, Bill Goldstein, Eddie Sturch, David Zatz, Ed Murphy, Joe Stein, Rosenthal, Leo and Sam Rugendorf, Aaron Oberlander, Rothman, Korshak, Jack Ruby etc. are missing from the list and most of those guys played major roles in the Outfit as crew leaders, hitmen or big moneymakers. Btw Heitler was half German and Sedway wasnt a Chicago guy lol

Also, heres one old and quite interesting list regarding most of the Outfits non-Itals from the mid 1950s until mid 60s, made back in 2016...

http://www.gangsterbb.net/threads/u...p;Board=8&main=35504&type=thread

As previously posted....
----
"Button Guys thought it would be fun to research and compose a list of significant Jewish hoodlums and gangsters who operated across the United States over the years.

Admittedly, although this list is a very long one, what follows below is really just a scratching at the surface of the many thousands and thousands of Jews who were players — both large and small — within America’s underworld landscape. From coast to coast — New York to California — and nearly everyplace else in-between, the Jewish ‘element’ of organized crime helped shaped the face of gangsterism in America."
----

....reading comprehension is important (try it sometime) lol

Do your job like your like a professional researcher Liz and stop posting wrong info (try it sometime) lol

I see you're looking to start your bullshit attacks again, huh? You're such a sad sack!

Do everybody a favor and stay off my posts. Nobody on this forum wants to see your nasty comments.

There is no need for your nasty and insulting comments. So cut it out.

I just gave you additional info and corrected some of your mistakes lol I feel sad for you Liz...a little bit lol obviously you need to learn to accept facts and you might get your site back if you stop lying to people for "few" miserable dollars

You were already curbed for 'flaming' and starting trouble here. Are you looking for Turnbull to admonish you again?

You're using your fantasy again because he never did that, while on the other hand with your multiple accounts and false info, you might be first on the hit list Liz (I can also see me referring to you as "Liz" doesnt trouble you, and almost the whole forum already knows this lol). Again, you're a sad case...and btw, I can post on every thread i want to since you made Chicago look like they had only few Jews in their organization, while they were THE most non-Italian family with Jewish guys on almost the same level as NY, and on top of that you made several mistakes. A liar such as yourself cannot stop me.

Am I "destroying" your thread with facts and truthful info Liz??? Well from now on this is just the beginning, meaning Im going after every lie that you posted or will post here on this forum. Cheers

Don't worry. The real Liz is here taking note of all your childish stupidity.

I'm asking politely: PLEASE don't make me lock this thread!

I noticed on your Upstate NY articles there were several names that sounded Jewish. For example on the DeStefano Crew list there is a guy named William Estoff as well as a Percy Schwartz,a Benjamin Slotnik,etc.
How many Jews were active members of crews in the Upstate cities -Buffalo,Rochester,Syracuse,Binghamton,Utica,etc?
Were any of them also some way connected to some of the NYC Families or Chicago families,particularly with big names Jewish members ,like Lansky or Rosenthal,etc

Havana (quote):

I noticed on your Upstate NY articles there were several names that sounded Jewish. For example on the DeStefano Crew list there is a guy named William Estoff as well as a Percy Schwartz,a Benjamin Slotnik,etc.
How many Jews were active members of crews in the Upstate cities -Buffalo,Rochester,Syracuse,Binghamton,Utica,etc?
Were any of them also some way connected to some of the NYC Families or Chicago families,particularly with big names Jewish members ,like Lansky or Rosenthal,etc
---



Havana, to answer your question there are many guys on the NY list above who came from upstate NY.

But you're correct, aside from the ones I named in various upstate NY charts I researched, there were literally hundreds more sprinkled thought out The Empire State, pretty much anywhere there was an acknowledged mob or organized underworld. Here's a few more, including some you mentioned already:

Buffalo
Jack (Sharkey) Ehrenreich
Harry Hameroff
Ralph Jacobs
Julius Kramer
Siney Lipsitz
Walter Miller
Greg Parness
Solly Redcliff
Harry (Al) Rosen
Harry Segal
Herbie Schaefer
Herman Weinstein

Saratoga
Ozzy Elderbaum
Sam Gold
Barney Olshein

Syracuse
Sam Silver
Morris Altman
William (Willie) Estoff
Jack Hazel
Eli Rothman
Benny Scornick

But believe me, the list goes on and on. At one time, they were major players.

Is there any truth that European Jews were actually a mix of Jewish merchants, as well as Jews exiled by Romans from Israel who then married Italian women and who later during Inquisition migrated into Eastern Europe,Germany,etc ?

That I can't speak to.

But, regarding Jewish racketeers operating upstate, Utica's underworld also had their fair share of guys, many of whom interacted with, or were 'with' regime bosses Sal and Joe Falcone.

So why did they move Upstate from NYC?
The same reason as the Mafia,Camorra,N'Drangheta? Because it was like unclaimed territory to exploit?
Did the Jews ever practice their own version of black hand tactics before days of Prohibition?

Was that guy Goldberg who killed the police in the 1950s a guy connected to any Jewish or Italian mob.TonyDanza played him in a movie?

I meant to say the cop killer was a guy named Jerry Rosenberg . Played in a 1980s movie with Tony Dana called "Doing Life". Rodsenberg originally got sentenced to the electric chair

I never heard that, sadly the holocaust erased nearly two thousand years of European Jewish history.

For the same reasons all other ethnicities did. A better life through more access to jobs, wide open spaces, larger homes, and a more relaxed setting, as opposed to the teaming tenement buildings of the Lower East Side. Makes sense, no?

Makes sense for normal citizens .I was referring to Jewish and Italian gangsters who were plsanning to still be gangsters whren they moved Upstate. What made moving Upstate asttractive to gangsters,regardless of other opportunitiers for their kids,etc

For the same reasons, Havana.

Why compete with all the thousands of other hoods and racketeers living and operating within the inner-city with all its competition, when you can relocate to a 'new' virgin territory and stake out your own piece of the racket pie, right?

Fresh ground!

Thats probably what police and reporters theorized when these gangsters employing mafia,camorra ,black hand methods started showing up

Some early guys must have came to those boondock type towns compared to NYC sparked by some catalyst that made them make the move
They must have sent back word to NYC/Brooklyn that there is money and power to be had and no competition for it

Thats true. Not only in NY and NJ, but throughout the rest of the country too! How do you think so many Italiana -- and by proxy -- so many Italian gangsters ended up settling borgatas and crews in such far off destinations as San Jose, CA. and Rockford, IL?

The gangsters, whether Italian, Jewish, Irish or what have you, followed the early migration patterns of those same ethnicities as they settled across America. Thats how we ended up with so many 'Families' spread out -- by following the 'American dream.'

Jews have had a significant presence in European cities and countries since the fall of the Roman Empire, including Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, and Russia. In Spain and Portugal in the late fifteenth century, the monarchies forced Jews to either convert to Christianity or leave and they established offices of the Inquisition to enforce Catholic orthodoxy of converted Jews. These actions shattered Jewish life in Iberia and saw mass migration of Sephardic Jews to escape religious persecution. Many resettled in the Netherlands and re-judaized, starting in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. In the religiously tolerant, Protestant Dutch Republic Amsterdam prospered economically and as a center of Jewish cultural life, the "Dutch Jerusalem". Ashkenazi Jews lived in communities under continuous rabbinic authority. In Europe Jewish communities were largely self-governing autonomous under Christian rulers, usually with restrictions on residence and economic activities.

Interesting history.

There's a whole list of Italian names that indicate they were likely Italian Jews. A whole long You Tube presentation on Italian Jews,where they mostly were, surnames etc,