In July 1943, an American tank rolled through the streets of a small Sicilian village looking for a man the Americans would soon call the Godfather. Don Calò Vizzini was finally in a position to settle a score with the dictator Benito Mussolini.
When Mussolini rose to power, he wanted to revive the glory days of the Roman Empire and claim the role of emperor. But before he could continue his conquests, the defiant island of Sicily caught his attention.
Mussolini had heard about the local godfathers who had controlled the island for years, to the point where even the government could not keep them at bay. Under the new emperor, total obedience was non-negotiable. So he came to Sicily to show these dons who was boss, arriving with the full might of the Italian forces.
Seeing this, Don Calò remarked to the dictator that he had no need for all those guards, because he was under the don's protection and nothing would happen to him. It was a blunder that would cost the mafia dearly.
An egotistical dictator hellbent on becoming a Roman emperor did not receive that comment well. He went all out. There was nothing he was unwilling to do and no line he was unwilling to cross in his crusade against the mafia.
The mafia was forced into hiding. Some escaped to New York. But Sicilians do not forget and do not forgive easily. It was not going to be the end.
The old saying held true: the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
It all started in the early 20th century, when Italy was in turmoil. Mussolini saw an opportunity. He was a fiery speaker, charismatic, and he had a vision. He rallied those who were sick and tired of the chaos and the weak government.
His Blackshirts were a squad of loyal enforcers who functioned much like his capos. They caused quite a stir in the streets. Mussolini used them to intimidate political opponents and create a climate of fear.
He had a personality that could command loyalty and fear in equal measure. He had a fiery command presence and a unique sort of charisma. When he spoke, people listened. He exuded confidence and believed in his own strength.
He created a cult of personality. He was everywhere: on posters, in the news, and in people's minds. He played the strong man and promised to make Italy great again.
In 1922, Mussolini decided it was time for a big move. He marched on Rome with his Blackshirts, like a mob boss taking control of the city. He demanded the king give him power or else there would be chaos. The king did not want bloodshed, so he handed over the keys to the kingdom.
Mussolini became prime minister and ruled with an iron fist. But he was just getting started. He had the fancy titles and costumes, but he was just as ruthless, if not more so, than any Sicilian don. He made them look like Boy Scouts in comparison.
He silenced opposition, abolished political parties, and made himself head of the government. He was the boss of Italy, the new emperor. But before he could pursue his grand plans, he needed to make sure he held an iron grip on the entire nation.
He needed to wipe out all his enemies, and really anyone who disputed the absolute authority of the fascist regime. It would not be long before he concentrated on the defiant island of Sicily. Sicily seemed to be the only realm in the empire where he did not have total control, and for the new emperor that was not something he was willing to tolerate.
To understand the mafia and why it was so powerful, you have to understand the history of Sicily. The island was ruled by various foreign powers that did not exactly have the best interests of the local people in mind. This left Sicilians skeptical of authorities and the central government.
To protect themselves and their interests, they started forming their own groups based on kinship, loyalty, and honor. On an island invaded as often as Sicily, people formed families so they could have trust within the family compounds. With that sense of loyalty, they could combat the invaders.
These groups also offered protection and justice to those who paid them a fee or tribute. Another piece of the puzzle was the economic and agricultural situation. Sicily was a big player in the citrus fruit business.
The citrus industry was a gold mine, but it was vulnerable to theft, vandalism, and pests. Landowners needed help guarding their crops and getting them to market safely. The mafia stepped in to provide those services in exchange for a cut of the profits or even a piece of land.
They did not stop there. They soon controlled things like the water supply, the labor market, and various other vital elements of society. This made them wealthy and powerful, and since they were all local Sicilians, there was a vital community factor.
The Italian government found it extremely difficult to keep them at bay, especially since locals understood the ramifications of cooperating with the authorities.
In May 1924, when the dictator visited the island, he was greeted by Don Francesco Cuccia, also known as Don Chicho, the local godfather and town mayor. Looking at Mussolini's massive entourage and security detail, Don Chicho remarked that the excellency had no need for all those guards, because he was under his protection and nothing would happen to him.
Mussolini openly scorned the don and made it clear that any form of disobedience would not be tolerated. But it did not end there. When Mussolini went on to give one of his riveting speeches in the town square, accustomed to thundering applause, he walked out to an audience of beggars, homeless people, and drunkards, all courtesy of Don Chicho.
This was a mistake that the entirety of Sicily would have to suffer for. He had broken the first law of power: Mussolini demanded that all power reside with him, and the fact that someone else could challenge his rule was simply unacceptable. The mafia had finally met their match, and he was not going to hold back.
In November 1925, Cesare Mori was appointed to crush the mafia. His name still stings in the memory of the Sicilian underworld. Mori was a former cop who had developed a reputation as a man of action, and he had the full backing of Mussolini to achieve his mission by any means necessary.
Mori came down to the island like a bulldozer, relentless and ruthless. He unleashed a crackdown like a storm upon the organization. He hunted down bosses, arrested soldiers, and seized assets. The mafia did not know what hit it.
He used some of the worst forms of torture to get the confessions he wanted. He did not play by the rules, and his methods were harsh and controversial, even for the time. But he was effective. He disrupted mafia operations, broke its code of silence, and created chaos in its ranks. He became known as the Iron Prefect.
What really made Mori infamous, and incredibly cruel compared to even the mafia, was his siege on Gangi. He surrounded the village, and several days into the siege, with no sign of a mafia surrender, Mori ordered his men to start taking Gangi's women and children hostage. One by one, the mafiosi gave themselves up.
He had a true understanding of how the mafia's power worked. To truly crush it, he knew it was imperative to forge a direct bond between the people and the state, cutting out the middlemen who stood in the way of citizens reaching the authorities.
Mori's methods were not so different from the mafia's own. He did not just arrest bandits; he made it his business to humiliate them. His aim was to exhibit a forceful central authority that could stand toe to toe with the mafia, and to show that the state was to be feared even more than the mafia itself.
He often unearthed the mafia's secrets, seizing assets and livestock as a way of showing his unwavering determination. As vicious and ruthless as his methods were, they worked. The mafia's stranglehold over Sicily was largely decimated.
Many mobsters went into hiding, and a large number managed to escape. Many of them ended up in America, where they still carried their resentment but had their plates full.
Not all mobsters in the United States shared that hatred for Mussolini and his fascist regime. Notorious mobster Vito Genovese had an interesting relationship with the dictator.
In 1934, Genovese allegedly ordered the murder of mobster Ferdinand Boccia, with whom he had schemed to cheat a wealthy gambler out of $150,000 during a high-stakes card game. Boccia's demand for a $35,000 share led to his fatal encounter in a Brooklyn coffee shop in September 1934, a grim example of the consequences of betrayal within the criminal underworld.
By 1936, Lucky Luciano was sentenced to 30 to 50 years in prison for pandering, leaving a power vacuum that the cunning Genovese filled as acting boss of the Luciano crime family. In November 1936, Genovese became a naturalized US citizen in New York City.
But the heat from the Boccia murder prompted him to flee to Italy in 1937 with $750,000, settling near Naples. Frank Costello assumed leadership in his absence.
While in Italy, Genovese developed ties with powerful fascist figures, most notably Galeazzo Ciano, Mussolini's son-in-law. He also made substantial financial contributions to Mussolini's fascist party, ultimately donating nearly $4 million by the end of World War II.
He received awards and recognition from the fascist regime and played a role in establishing a new party headquarters in Nola, cementing his alliance with the ruling powers.
In 1943, Genovese was rumored to have ordered the assassination of Carlo Tresca, a thorn in Mussolini's side. Tresca, the publisher of an anarchist newspaper in New York, was shot and killed outside his office in Manhattan on January 11, 1943. Although Carmine Galante of the Bonanno crime family was alleged to be the triggerman, no one was ever charged in connection with the murder.
Such were the complexities and mysteries of loyalty and alliances in those times, when disputes often ended in violence and those responsible often remained elusive. But for the Sicilians back home, the future looked as bleak as ever. They would need a miracle for things to change.
On January 14, 1943, Allied leaders met in Casablanca, Morocco, to discuss and plan their strategy for the next phase of the war. One of the most pressing matters was how to begin the invasion of Europe. It was a decisive time in the war, and they needed to be quick.
But it was not that simple. The Germans knew the Allies' next move would be to find a way into Europe, and there were only a few logical options: Greece and the island of Sicily. After much debate, the Allies decided the best way to enter the rest of Europe was through Sicily.
Now they needed to convince the Germans that the attack was going to take place in the south of Greece. They set up an elaborate deception plot called Operation Mincemeat, which convinced the Germans that the invasion would occur in Greece. It worked and bought the Allies some time.
Now they could focus on the actual invasion. The problem was they did not have enough intelligence on the island, and the local Sicilians were not being very cooperative, again fearing the wrath of the mafia. Sicily was the ideal location to begin the invasion, but they simply were not ready.
Gathering all the intelligence they needed was going to take a lot of time they simply did not have. With the invasion date set, they grew somewhat desperate. They would need to get this information before the Germans found out. Time was running out.
Luckily, there was one man who could solve this conundrum. On May 7, 1942, a group of mobsters, lawyers, naval officers, and government officials headed for Dannemora prison, otherwise known as Little Siberia, to meet with the godfather of the mob: the man who organized crime, Charles "Lucky" Luciano.
This was not the first time the government had allied itself with Luciano, and to their surprise he once again complied, even suggesting that he himself should be on the battlefield to aid in the invasion. They passed on that suggestion but welcomed any intelligence he could help them gain.
Luciano was born in Palermo and maintained a positive relationship with his relatives there. More importantly, he possessed very important connections to the Sicilian mafia, most vitally to the most powerful man in Sicily, the godfather of the Sicilian mafia, Don Calò Vizzini.
When he put the word out, the Navy began to receive all kinds of vital intelligence. This time, luck was on their side: the Sicilian mafia needed little convincing. In fact, they rejoiced when they heard they could help end the brutal reign of the fascist government. They were willing to do a lot more than just share intelligence.
On July 9, 1943, at 2:45 a.m., 2,600 Allied ships descended on the shores of Sicily, carrying over 160,000 troops who then stormed the southeast beaches of the island. This was the largest beach landing in history prior to the Normandy landings, also known as D-Day.
When they arrived, they soon met up with their mafia counterparts, who provided them with invaluable services. It did not take the American troops long to start making headway.
On the very first day, a group of Navy lieutenants, with the help of mafia members, managed to seize the headquarters of the Italian Naval Command on the island. Inside, they stumbled upon a gold mine: maps detailing minefields in the waters around Italy and Europe, along with other vital documents that were like gold for US Naval intelligence.
The day after Don Calò took control up in the heights near Monte Camarata, overlooking the way to Palermo, Commander Lieutenant Colonel Salemi had most of his troops abandon him. Some Italian soldiers said that mafia members came to them during the night, telling them things were hopeless and offering them regular clothes to escape and be with their families.
With most of the local population on their side, giving them all the intelligence they needed, and with the Sicilian mafia acting as a resistance force, the Allies, at least the Americans, swept through Sicily, delivering a crushing blow to the Axis powers.
Unlike their British counterparts, who had received what seemed to be the brunt of the occupying force, the Americans made a lot of progress and led a fairly fast campaign thanks to the Sicilian mafia. It was a major victory for the Allies and a decisive moment in the war.
With this inside information, the US military swiftly secured the entire western side of the island in just two weeks after landing. Their progress was lightning fast, and this was a monumental victory. The Battle of Camarata was a victory without a single shot fired.
General Patton made it to Messina just two hours before Montgomery, which marked the end of the campaign in Sicily. Even though the war was far from over, this victory opened up a new front against the Germans. Some consider it the beginning of the end for the Axis powers.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. After Sicily was taken over, the Allied Military Government had real issues keeping things orderly. They got rid of the fascist political leaders, which left a power gap.
The mafia saw its chance and started filling these roles with people it supported. Some mafia-backed Sicilian separatists, like Lucio Tusa, who became the acting mayor of Palermo, got into key political positions.
The Allies did not plan to put the mafia back in power. They sort of missed it happening, especially because the mafia had gained influence during the war. When the Nazis left the island after the liberation, the mafia felt more confident and began to carry out bold crimes, like stealing from Allied warehouses.
The war was still going on in other places, and the Allies could not spare the resources for a big fight against the mafia, so they tried to keep them satisfied. They made Don Calò Vizzini the mayor of Villalba, where he became known as the king of the post-war black market. Giuseppe Genco Russo, who was close to Don Calò, became the mayor of Mussomeli.
These mafia members, along with others, played a big part in securing the mafia's control over Sicily. On September 2, 1945, two years after the conquest of Sicily, the Allies had come out victorious.
The history uncovered here serves as a chilling reminder that the secret, often unholy liaisons between those in power and the underworld do not merely fade away. The mysterious underbelly of such collaborations, fraught with whispers, hidden agendas, and clandestine deals, is not easily laid to rest. It is a tale that often unfolds in the shadows, where truth remains obscured and motives enigmatic.