Today, the Italian mafia is a big whale on the map of the cultural heritage of Italy and the United States. This is the fault of writers, directors and other artists who romanticized and elevated the main representatives of the criminal organization to almost heroism. Many fans of the Italian mafia still dream of becoming bosses, flaunting on the red carpet of the underworld in an expensive suit and a wallet full of banknotes, thicker than only the conceit of its owner. A cold, self-confident gentleman, a sort of Robin Hood, taking from the rich and helping the poor - such an image is formed among the layman, after watching the already classic film "The Godfather". And what boy has not dreamed of being like Don Corleone?
Origin
At all times, people have been attracted by everything that is hidden under multi-layered secrets, something that is almost impossible to unravel. So the history of the Italian mafia is notable for its mystery. There is still no exact data on the origin of this criminal community, and there is also no clear analysis of the etymology of the word "mafia". It would seem how much has been said, how many books have been written, but even in Italian documents, according to official data, it was not possible to establish a specific trace of the origin of the mafia. There are only theories, which are many enough for everyone to come to a logical conclusion, but they are not weighty enough to completely trust them.
It can be said with certainty that initially the mafia is a kind of secret community, a secretive criminal organization that strictly observes the “omerta” - a kind of code of honor that has been passed down from generation to generation. It is known that the mafia was engaged in robbing the rich and settling conflicts between merchants.
The birthplace of the mafia is Sicily. It was on this island that a criminal organization was formed for the first time. The mafia was born during the reign of the Bourbon dynasty, when complete lawlessness reigned. A little later, the Italians began to move to America in whole groups and organize their illegal associations.
Later, the Sicilians began to massively migrate to the United States of America and organize their mafia associations in this country.
Italian Mafia in America
Representatives of the Italian mafia began to immigrate to the United States in the second half of the 19th century. They perceived this country as an unplowed field for criminal acts. The first point of the mafia leaders was New York, where the "Gang of Five Points" - the most influential criminal group in the city, was organized. Later, the Italians, united with the Neapolitans and Calabrians, took control of the gambling business, the smuggling of drugs, weapons and alcohol, dictating their rules to the streets of New York.
At that time, there were two of the most influential mafia organizations, owned by Giuseppe Masseria and Salvatore Maranzana. They included the most influential families of the underworld. However, subsequently, the criminal clans could not peacefully divide their power, which led to a fierce confrontation that lasted three years. The Maranzana family prevailed and dominated New York. Later, with the help of a conspiracy, its leader was deposed by the new leader of the Italian mafia, Lucky Luciano.
Five families
In 1931, Lucky Luciano for the first time formed a special mafia commission, uniting five families. All the Dons came to the meetings and jointly solved the problems associated with their illegal activities. Luciano tried in every possible way to eliminate misunderstandings in relations between families and always sought a compromise approach. Which families were part of the association:
Genovese family. The head of the family was Vito Genovese, who jokingly called himself the leader of the Ivy League of the Mafia Kingdom. The criminal organization was engaged in racketeering, usury and drug trafficking
The Gambino family. Don Carlo Gambino has long been in charge of all the affairs of the family. At that time, he quickly removed his American competitors and expanded the territory of influence of his association by an order of magnitude. The clan engaged in contract killings, robberies, construction contract fraud, and prostitution
The Lucchese family. In the mid-30s, Gaetano Galliano became the head of the Italian clan, but a little later he was replaced by Tommy Lucchese, after whom the family got its name. The clan distributed the influence of the mafia on the labor market, led the organization of gambling
The Colombo family. The association was named after the influential Don Joseph Colombo, who many times got into skirmishes with his enemies, but almost always came out of them completely safe and sound. However, during his last battle in 1971, the Don still could not withstand the onslaught of the enemy and was seriously wounded, because of which he fell into a coma for the rest of his days. His family was engaged in robbery and fabrication of documents
The Bonanno family. The head of the family was John Bonanno, who came to the mafia world thanks to Lucky Luciano, whom he had known since childhood. The association was engaged in major machinations in the financial markets of Italy and the United States. All these families still exist today, but no longer have their former power. Nevertheless, their sphere of influence is still tangible, they occupy quite large territories on the map of New York
Mafia structure
The Italian mafia refers to itself as "Cosa Nostra", which means "our business". The criminal community consists of individual structures called “families”. The family is headed by the godfather - don. The godfather must have an adviser - "consigliere", as a rule, a loyal and sufficiently educated person in the field of family affairs was selected for this position. He acts as a mediator in resolving important issues, and is also a faithful adviser to the don. Such an assistant must have had aristocratic manners, know the history of the emergence of the mafia, the names of famous mafiosi, the whereabouts of the godfathers and wives of the Italian bandits who are part of the association.
Then in the hierarchy comes the “junior boss” - the Don’s deputy. His position implies the control of all "kapos", that is, captains. In the event of the death of the godfather, the junior boss becomes the head of the family. The captain is responsible for the control of a certain area, which belongs to the family, and pays a portion of the income to the don every month.
The lowest in the family hierarchy is the “soldier” or “executor,” whose duties include the complete subordination of the kapo. To become a family member, you need to prove your usefulness to her, and you also need to enlist the support of one of the captains.
It is also worth noting the role of women in the structure of the Italian mafia. She had to sew elegant clothes for the mafiosi, keep the secrets of the organization and put the will of the don above all else in her life.
Italian Mafia Code of Honor
The code of honor of the mafia is called “omerta”. It is a set of rules that members of the mafia world must obey throughout their criminal activities. Violation of any of the rules is punishable by death. Omerta can also be translated as “the law of silence”. With the help of omerta, control over members of a criminal group is exercised. The Code includes the following principles:
- The family cannot be left
- Only the family administers justice
- Constant obedience to the don
- Betrayal is punishable by murder
It should be noted that this “code of honor” was violated quite a number of times. Intra-clan showdowns, conspiracies and betrayals took place in almost every clan.
Mafia in the modern period
Nowadays, the Italian mafia has extensive influence in Sicily and Naples, and the local authorities can not do anything about it. Many families continue to carry out criminal activities in the United States.
In the 21st century, the mafia, as at the beginning of its existence, again chose the approach of secretive conduct of its affairs. Indeed, when was the last time you heard the big news about a skirmish between the two clans? Perhaps only on the pages of fiction books or in historical summaries of the last century.
