Gangsters vs. Nazis: How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in WW2 Era America by Michael Benson

True crime writer Michael Benson goes on a tangent from his usual work to bring us a look at efforts to battle the Bunds and other Fascistic elements in the U.S. in during the rise and ascendency the Nazi regime in Germany.  There was a sizable (but not overly large) and very vocal Fascist movement in the U.S. throughout the 30s, really growing with the Depression.  Protected by U.S. free speech laws and bolstered by prominent celebrities like Charles Lindbergh, Father Coughlin and Henry Ford, who while not necessarily Bund or Silver Legion members, gave public voice to the same vile ideologies, there was ample cover for Fascist groups to grow and recruit disaffected Americans.  One of the more unusual and effective methods of battling the groups was to recruit members of the Jewish Mob across the U.S. to arm themselves with baseball bats, pool cues and brass knuckles and break up Bundist group's rallies, meetings and parades.  

Bensen give us snapshots of these activities across the U.S., including activities in New York City, Newark, Chicago, Minneapolis, Cleveland and Los Angeles.  He also gives us small glimpses in the the histories of prominent members of both sides.  And there are a number of noteworthy individuals involved.  Meyer Lansky.  Mickey Cohen.  Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.  A number of members of Murder, Inc.  And not all of them were mobsters.  A lot of Jewish boxers were involved, including, most prominently Barney Ross, who at one point held the Lightweight, Light Welterweight and Welterweight boxing titles (not simultaneously).  

The overarching narrative is probably a bit lacking.  And Benson is an adequate, but far from great writer.  But there is enough vicarious joy and thrills from reading about Nazi's getting their heads busted open by Jewish-Americans that the shortcomings of the book can be overlooked.  I've long said that Nazi's are just begging to be punched in the throat.  It's great to read about a time when American Nazis got baseball bats upside the head, brass knuckles to the jaw and pole cues to the gut.  It's just too bad it didn't happen to Lindbergh, Ford or Coughlin.  

To quote New York State Justice Nathan Perlman, who was instrumental in getting Lansky and company involved, "Broken bones, I would think, are to be encouraged. They should know that being a Nazi is dangerous."

Today it was The Tower of the Elephant to continue my Cimmerian September journey.

-M

Wacky Packages 

Ahh...wacky packs.  Those stickers that felt like they were coming straight from Mad Magazine.  During the early to mid 70s the packs of parody stickers for a time outsold Topps' ubiquitous baseball cards.  So an art book showing those first releases is kind of a nostalgia no-brainer.  Now, I was a bit young for those early 1973 and 1974 packs.  But I do remember the later releases.  And what I really remember were the promotional give-a-ways.  Digging in to a loaf of Wonder Bread for a Wacky Pack sticker was a gateway to laughs.  This is great time capsule and as Norman Saunders' last major art project they are well worth the look.  One might have wished for a bit more insight in to the individual cards, but that's a small complaint.  If you grew up in the 70s, this is going to get the neurons firing.  

Continued Cimmerian September with a reread of The Scarlet Citadel this afternoon.

-M

Cimmerian September continued with a reread of Black Colossus tonight, and a brief side excursion into comics with Conan: Battle of the Black Stone #1.

I just want to add if you haven't checked out Mark Shultz's magnificent illustrations for the Conan stories in the Del Rey edition of The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian, you are missing out. They are stunning.

-M