The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit, 1910-1945 (2 page)

Among
them were: Harry, Louis, and Sam Fleisher; Philip and Harry Keywell;
Morris Raider; Harry Altman; and Abe Zussman. There was also Sam
Bernstein; Sam and Ben Purple; Zigmund Selbin; Irving Shapiro; Jack
Budd; and Sam Davis. All would gain notoriety as gangsters. So much
for reform school.

Although
there was several years age difference among the boys, this group
formed the nucleus of a local juvenile street gang which quickly
became a nuisance to the peddlers, shopkeepers, and residents.

Classes
at the Old Bishop School served as the gang's daily rendezvous. The
boys stayed after classes on the infrequent days they attended to
hang around crap games in the school yard that were organized by
local underworld figures. It was during this period that the "Boys,"
as the Purples would later refer to themselves, became acquainted
with the neighborhood racketeers and gamblers. "
Trombeniks
,"
the boys' parents called these underworld characters, a Yiddish term
meaning a bum or a no-good person, and warned their children stay
away.

The
older mobsters had a strong influence on the boys. The young Purples
would run errands for them.

As
they grew older and more experienced they ran schoolyard crap games
and went on jobs for the older thugs, often paid
a
few
dollars for committing crimes that could put them in prison for
years.

For
several years before and during the First World War, the juvenile
Purple Gang terrorized the old Detroit Jewish quarter. They stole
from shops and ganged up on other children. As they grew older they
became bolder, rolling drunks and extorting protection money from
local businessmen, even looting boxcars in the local freight yards
and battling other juvenile gangs.

It
was an environment not unlike the slums of Manhattan's lower East
Side, Chicago's infamous "Levee" District, or the depressed
and congested areas of any large city of the era. Gangs of youths of
every ethnic background fought and sometimes killed each other over
imaginary slights, perceived territory, or just plain boredom.

It
is important to recognize that these youngsters made a choice.
Although from poverty, the majority were provided with food and
shelter. The juvenile Purples were largely made up of children of
recently immigrated Eastern European Jews, law abiding and
hardworking families fleeing centuries of religious and cultural
persecution in Europe. The older people were content to work hard and
to build something for themselves and their children.

But
these youngsters perceived the American dream of freedom and economic
success differently than their parents. Their behavior was a product
of the streets. Their idea of a rich gangster lifestyle coupled with
illegal opportunities provided by Prohibition, paved the way for the
bloody ascent of the Purple Gang to the top of Detroit's underworld.

Exactly
how the name evolved has been open to dispute. The moniker did not
come into popular use by the media until 1927. Even during its heyday
in the late twenties, members openly denied the existence of any
underworld organization called the Purple Gang. In a newspaper
interview with Purple gangsters who had been jailed for violating
Prohibition laws in 1929, all unanimously denied the existence of the
Gang. Purple gangster Joe "Honey" Miller told the press,
"This Purple Gang stuff makes me sick ... all the time the
Purple Gang! Who got up that name? Everybody's a Purple. 1 talk to a
guy a minute—the police spot him as a Purple. I have
friends—they're Purples."

In
the same interview, Isadore Bernstein added, "What am I in here
for? How should I know? The coppers throw me in the can every now and
then on general principle. They hear ... so much they believe it
themselves."

Although
the name's origins are unknown, there are several theories. One
credits two shopkeepers in the old Hastings Street district with its
invention. One man supposedly said, "Those boys are tainted, off
color."

"Purple,
that's what they are," replied the other. "The whole bunch
of them, they're all Purple."

In
reality the name was probably the invention of a journalist, as were
the shopkeepers' remarks. Whatever its origins, "Purple Gang"
stuck from the late twenties on, climaxing with the gang's meteoric
rise to power. It equalled terror for people on both sides of the
law. Organized crime was relatively new to America. In order to deal
with its complicated gangs, it became common for police to take a
"show up photo" when a group of suspects were arrested.
Some of those group mug shots might contain as many as 15 or 20
suspects. Once the photographic print was completed each person would
be given a rogues gallery identification number. The rogues gallery
number used in group photos and individual mug shots was then
cross-referenced with arrest records, biographical information, and
confidential reports.

If
police suspected that more than one person was involved in a crime,
any members of the original group photo could be arrested and
questioned. Unfortunately, less dangerous people arrested in a pool
hall or blind pig raid ended up in "show up" photos with
seasoned mobsters. A guilt-by-association mentality developed in the
Detroit Police Department and a suspect with no gang affiliation
could be labeled a Purple Gangster. At that time, police questioning
consisted of "shellacking," "massaging" or
"breaking the news." It was not unusual for a suspect to
receive a severe beating at the hands of the police. A writer of the
period claimed that in 70% of cases solved, physical force had been
used to elicit a confession.

Methods
of interrogation varied according to the inquisitor, the police
station, and who a suspect was. Someone politically connected would
not suffer the same fate as someone who was not. The attitude was
best summed up in the words of an early twenties desk sergeant to a
rookie patrolman:

"They
may beat you in court, the complainant may not show up, they may jump
their bail, politicians may interfere, there are several ways they
can beat you but this, (pointing to the bruises on the suspect)
they've got and make no mistake about it. There's more religion in
the end of a night stick than in any sermon, preached to the likes of
them."

Another
procedure made necessary by organized crime was the "Police
Loop," or "the Loop." A suspect would be registered
under one of their aliases, which were sometimes quite extensive, and
sent from one precinct to another ("running the loop").
This kept their lawyer and bondsman from locating them in order to
obtain a hearing and bail.

Legal
counsel called the system unconstitutional, but police claimed it was
not meant to deprive suspects of their rights, rather to let officers
familiarize themselves with different suspects for identification on
the streets. The real reason, of course, was to alienate gangsters
from their lawyers.

Police
favored the system because really serious charges would prompt the
suspect to jump bail. The loop could hold a suspect long enough to
gather evidence. It was also an effective form of harassment to
induce an underworld figure to leave the city.

The
Reign Begins

On
May 1st, 1918 a significant event took place in Michigan. The State
Prohibition Referendum approved in 1916 became law. Detroit was the
first major American city to go completely dry as an experiment to
test the dry law for the rest of the country.

The
Eighteenth Amendment would prove one of the biggest errors in
legislative judgment America ever made. Newfound wealth from the
manufacture, importation and sale of illegal liquor helped finance
organized crime in America.

Prohibition
gave mobsters financial leverage for legitimate business ownership,
spawned rackets to provide people with alchohol and corrupted every
level of Government. Organized crime wove its presence irreparably
into the fabric of American social and political life.

The
Purple Gang graduated from juvenile delinquents to mobsters with the
rackets that new liquor laws inspired. An influx of gangsters looking
to exploit Prohibition became affiliated with the Purples. Their
willingness to do the Purples' dirty worked extended the gang's
reach, guaranteeing their dominance.

It
was during this time that the still juvenile gang introduced the
underworld expression "making their bones" in reference to
committing murders, creating reputations for ferocity with harsh
beatings, and creating contacts within other mobs.

By
now Abe Bernstein was removed from street level and consulted by
younger Purples. He and a small group of men lead various Purple Gang
factions. This group included: Charles Leiter; Henry Shorr; Raymond
and Joe Bernstein; Sam Solomon; Mike Gelfand; Charles Auerbach and
Jack Selbin.

The
M.O.'s

Jack
Selbin, one of the first illegal merchants, sold liquor from the back
of a fake storefront. He was rumored to have placed his infant son in
a highchair in its front window. The sight of a patrolman's uniform
caused the baby to start crying, warning Selbin and his associates to
put it under wraps.

§
§ §

Charles
Auerbach was considered one of the elder statesmen of the Detroit
Jewish mobs. Known as the "Professor" because of his
polished appearance and refinement, he was a self-taught man who
collected rare books. Like Abe Bernstein, he operated from behind the
scenes.

Auerbach
had come from New York City, pimping and acting as a strike breaker
on Manhattan's Lower East Side. He was suspected to have been behind
most of the the Purple Gang crimes during the prohibition era, his
funeral was attended by some of the most important members of the
Detroit underworld.

He
was the first gangster of notoriety to be convicted under the Public
Enemy Law in 1931. When sentenced to a fine or ninety days in jail,
he calmly peeled a $100 bill from his roll and walked.

§
§ §

Mike
Gelfand was known as "One-Armed Mike" for his missing limb.
One of the leaders of the Little Jewish Navy, Mike was a combination
blind pig operator/racketeer. In later years Gelfand would own the
"Famous Graceland Ballroom".

§
§ §

Sam
Solomon was one of the biggest bookmakers in Detroit and the brains
behind the "Little Jewish Navy" faction of the Purple Gang.
He was also rumored to be silent partners in his bookmaking operation
with future Superintendent of Police Fred Frahm.

§
§ §

Raymond
Bernstein started out in the Detroit gambling rackets running
errands. He worked as a card dealer, hijacker, strong arm man, and
gunman until starting his blind pig, the "Kibbutzer Club".
Ray was a smooth talking and intelligent man prone to diplomacy, but
not opposed to violence when necessary. He was also a fastidious
dresser and ladies' man.

§
§ §

Joe
Bernstein came out of the Oakland Sugar House Gang, which spawned the
Purple Gang. He was
reputed
to be the toughest of the four Bernstein brothers and a dangerous man
to cross. His criminal career built a bankroll upon which he
eventually financed a legitimate oil business and ditched the Purples
for the
life
of a prosperous businessman.

§
§ §

Henry
Shorr and Charles Leiter had been members of the Oakland Sugar House
Gang, the mentors of the Purples (many Purple's were former Sugar
House thugs). Well known in the Detroit underworld for their ability
to design and build efficient liquor producing plants, their
distillery was one of the finest ever seized. It was reputed to be
worth $125,000.

§
§ §

Beating
Prohibition

The
home-brewing of wine and beer for personal consumption was legal
under the provisions of the Volstead Act. Sugar outlets, or 'sugar
houses', were principal suppliers of the products needed to make home
brew. It was legal to sell products to make alcohol for home
consumption only. Many legitimate suppliers catered to underworld
brewers who in turn mass produced for "blind pigs,"
establishments where liquor was sold illegally.