Paul R. Kavieff - The Purple Gang: Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945

THEPURPLE GANG

organizedcrime in detroit

1910-1945

PaulR. Kavieff

BARRICADEBOOKS NEWYORK

150 FifthAvenue

Suite 700

New York,NY 10011

Copyright 2000 by Paul R. Kavieff All Rights Reserved.

No part ofthis book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, ortransmitted in any form, by any means, including mechanical,electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the priorwritten permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishesto quote brief passages in connection with a review written forinclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or broadcast.

Library ofCongress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Kavieff,Paul R.

The PurpleGang : organized crime in Detroit, 1910-1945/Paul R. Kavieff p. cm.

1.Gangs--Michigan--Detroit--History?-20m century. 2. Organizedcrime--Michigan--Detroit--History--20th century. 3. Purple Gang(Organized Crime Group : Detroit, Mich.) I. Purple Gang (OrganizedCrime Group : Detroit, Mich.) II. Title

HV6439.U7D475 2000 364.1'06'6077434--dc21

00-028903

SecondPrinting

Printedin the United States of America.

Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

chapter1 Origins of the Purple Gang 1902-1919

chapter2 The Birth of the Oakland Sugar House Gang 1922-1926

chapter3 The Murder of Johnny Reid 1920-1926

chapter4 The Milaflores Apartment Massacre 1927

chapter5 The Murder of Vivian Welch 1928

chapter6 The Cleaners and Dyers War 1925-1928

chapter7 The St. Valentine's Day Massacre 1928-1930

chapter8 Bloody July1930

chapter9 Collingwood Manor MassacreThe Era of Decline1931

chapter10 The Self-Destruction1932-1935

chapter11The Brothers Fleisher 1934-1940

chapter12 Harry Millman: Last of the Purple Gang Cowboys 1931-1937

chapter13 The Murder of Warren Hooper 1945

chapter14 The Prison Years 1930-1965

Bibliography

Dedication

Iwould like to dedicate this book to my wife, Deborah A. Carson.

Acknowledgments

Thisbook would not have become a reality without the help and support ofmany people. I would like to thank Pat Zacharias and her staff at theDetroit News Reference Library for their valuable help over a periodof years; Thomas Featherstone of the Reuther Library, Wayne StateUniversity; Dave Poremba of the Burton Historical Collection, DetroitPublic Library; Sharon Brown of the Michigan State Police, CentralRecords Division; John Currie and Mary Zumeth of the Michigan StateArchives; the late Max Silk, who spent many hours with me sharing hismemories about the Prohibition era; Penelope A. Morris, owner of theP. A. Morris Co., for her help in editing and creating a hard copy ofthe work; Stephen Rosman; Heidi Christein; Pat Henahan; Richard J.Smith and his family; my colleagues and friends in the EngineeringUnit at Wayne State University; Dave Rosen; Harry "Harry theHat" Stone, a former Purple; Richard Bak; Patterson Smith; MikeWebb; Bill Helmer; and Loren D. Estleman. A special thanks to myeditor, Allan J. Wilson, for his valuable advice, and to thepublishers, Carole and Lyle Stuart, for making the Purple Gang storya reality.

Preface

ThePurple Gang was one of the most ruthless organized crime groups inU.S. History. From the chaotic streets of Detroit's lower east side,this group of predominately Jewish gangsters would muscle their wayinto the underworld by 1927, where they would remain through a fiveyear reign of terror. It left an estimated five hundred unsolvedmurders in its wake.

Publicfear embraced the citizens of early 20th century Detroit. Nobodywould testify against anyone suspected of being a Purple. Jurors inPurple Gang cases were bribed or threatened with death. Courts couldnot get a conviction of significance on a Purple until the earlythirties.

Thesuccess of the Purples had more to do with their high profile methodsand their strong arm tactics than with cunning. The gang flourishedduring Prohibition before the advent of scientific detectiontechniques like DNA testing. Bribery of Federal and local officialscontrolled the law, but in the end it was neither science nor the lawthat brought the gang down. It was their own greed and jealousy.

Herefor the first time is the story of the rise and fall of one ofAmerica's most notorious organized crime

groups.The Purple Gang was an eerie, spectacular part of an American era inwhich a post-World War I nation groped for its place in the modernworld order.

PaulR. Kavieff

RoyalOak, Michigan

February2, 2000

Chapter 1

Originsof the Purple Gang

"Theseboys are not like other boys of their age, they're tainted, offcolor."

"Yes,"replied the other shopkeeper. "The whole bunch of them arePurple, they're a Purple Gang."

HastingsStreet Shopkeepers circa 1918

Itall began in 1902 when a youngshoemaker named Harry Bernstein arrived in Detroit with his wife andchildren. The family established a small shoe repair shop located at401 Gratiot Avenue on the city's Lower East Side, not far fromDetroit's Jewish ghetto district. Making a living was a challengingtask for immigrants in those years. Bernstein, a Polish Jew, movedwith his family from Russia to the tenement section of Manhattan'sLower East Side. The first years in America were the most difficult,one had to learn a new language and adapt to a new culture.

Bernstein'seldest son Abe was the second of seven children. Young Abe spent hischildhood years growing up fast on the streets of New York City.

Afterscratching out a living in New York, Harry finally saved enough moneyto open a small shop of his own. The competition in New York City wastough. The country-like atmosphere of turn of the century Detroit wasmore welcoming, and so became the site of Bernstein's first shop.

Whenthe Bernstein family moved to Detroit the city was on the verge of anenormous population and industrial explosion which brought ondisease, overcrowded housing, poverty and an increase in crime.

Theelder Bernstein and his wife spent long hours in their small shopstruggling to support their growing family. During their first yearsin Detroit they lived in a small apartment above their shop. A secondson, Joseph, came after Abe, followed by Jennie, Raymond, Ida andIsadore.

AlthoughBernstein's eldest son Abe was a bright child with obvious potential,he showed little interest in school. He was a streetwise 9-year-oldby the time the family moved to Detroit. He dropped out to hawknewspapers in the Detroit business district, and then worked for FordMotor Company to help support the family.

Bythe time Abe married he'd started working in the thriving Detroitarea gambling houses. Gambling, technically illegal, had developedinto a racket nourished by payoffs to politicians and policeofficials.

Hebecame a skilled card dealer and stickman. He also met the mostimportant politicians, police officials, and underworld figures ofthe era.

Abe'syounger brothers Joe, Raymond, and Isadore (Izzy)fended for themselves on the streets. Theirs was a Jewish ghetto thatstretched from Jefferson Avenue to East Grand Boulevard. Its outerboundaries extended a little more than two blocks east and west ofHastings Street.

Manyfuture Purple gangsters came from this neighborhood. Their parentswere for the most part working class, non-Orthodox Jews. HastingsStreet, known as "Paradise Valley," was bustling withactivity during the teens and early twenties. It was a heavilyindustrial area where children played on soot-covered streets.

Hucksterspeddled their wares from pushcarts and replenished them at the nearbyEastern Market. Saloons and disorderly houses catered to the needs offactory workers at all hours of the day or night as shifts let out atthe manufacturing plants.

Thechildren of these immigrants saw their parents work long hours, yetearn only enough to provide bare necessities. They also saw men whoseemed to live the good life without working.