Review by Martin Koenigsberg
According to Michael Benson, American Jews did not wait for the Nazi scourge to move over from German to America. As soon as the Nazis and their secret societies began to arrive in the US, individual Jews and some Jewish Organisations began to track them and gather intelligence on them. Then, says Benson, a prolific True Crime author , they handed over this information to local Jewish Organised Crime figures who moved in to select events and broke them up with extreme prejudice. Benson seems to figure himself a bit of a Damon Runyonesque chronicler as he takes us through his narrative, and the style can get a bit much, but its an interesting story with some characters we are familiar with from other parts of the culture. I was struck by two things as I read this book, firstly how easily the Nazi rings were penetrated by Jewish infiltrators, and secondly how easy it is for Mr. Benson to cast these criminals as lovable toughs- softsoaping the fact they preyed primarily on their own communities. The Nazis, German-American Bund, and Silver Shirt societies were so focused on how to LOOK like a “Real American” that any one who showed interest and talked a good hate game could usually gain admission to the inner circle. Several American journalists were able to expose all the hate groups and their activities. I never did resolve my feelings about Benson trying to use modern slang and 30s vernacular to soften the portrayals of hoods like Meyer Lansky and Bugsy Siegal, even as they did perform a civic duty in cleaning the Nazis off American streets. It’s an interesting book that raises interesting points about American culture. This book is full of adult themes, so the Junior Reader over about 14/15 years will be best served reading it. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast, my usual audience, this is a thin volume, unless you are leaning into 30s Noir RPGs, in which case it might be a load of fun. The gamer is going to get ideas for Noir RPG scenarios, but little else. The Modeler will get few ideas for builds /dioramas. The Military Enthusiast gets insight into a non-military violent response to Fascism right before the real war stepped off, but not that much more.
#WhatAreYouReading #BookReviews #20thCenturyHistory #MilitaryHistory #NaziHistory #AmericanHistory #JewishHistory #OrganisedCrime #Gangsters #AntiFascistOrganisation #ADL #GermanAmericanBund #SecretSocieties #WargameResearch #GangstersVsNazis #HowJewishMobstersBattledNazisInWartimeAmerica #MichaelBenson #CitadelPress #MeyerLansky #BugsySiegal #LepkeBuchalter #FritzKuhn #Numbers #Rackets #Protection #FlamesOfWar #BoltAction #WorldWarIIWargaming
