PN1501

Rudolf Hess served as deputy leader of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1941, standing only one place behind Adolf Hitler in the hierarchy of the regime. A World War I infantryman and later a pilot, Hess was complicit in the actions the Nazis took against their enemies. That complicity included the promulgation of race laws … Read more

On September 1, 1939, Nazi Germany invaded Poland, igniting the Second World War. After the defeat of the Polish army, the Germans imposed a repressive occupation regime. In the weeks and months that followed, German special forces, police, and army units targeted thousands of Polish civilians, while millions of others faced persecution, forced labor, deportation, … Read more

In the early hours of March 17, 1956, a doctor at Harlem Hospital stood over an examination table and stared at something he had never seen in 23 years of medical practice. The patient's right hand was swollen to nearly twice its normal size. Its color was not the pink of healthy flesh or even … Read more

On the night of March 8, 1941, the Apollo Theater in Harlem was packed with 200 people. Jazz drifted through the smoke-filled room, and Ella Fitzgerald was mid-song on stage. At table seven sat Bumpy Johnson, the man many called the godfather of Harlem, dining with his wife May. At 11:15 p.m., the front doors … Read more

On the morning of June 15, 1961, My Johnson walked into her daughter's bedroom and found the bed made, the window open, and a note sitting on the pillow. It was not from Ruthie. It was addressed to Bumpy. "We have your daughter. $500,000 by midnight or she dies. Don't call the police. Don't try … Read more

In September 1948, a mobster walked into a Harlem restaurant and used a racial slur against Bumpy Johnson, the man known as the Godfather of Harlem. What happened next would reshape organized crime in New York. Sal Banano entered Wells restaurant on 135th Street with six armed men. The insult echoed through the room. Everyone … Read more