![]() ![]() But in 1959, he and Genovese were convicted of narcotics trafficking, an increasingly common mob earner at the time, as was Genovese after the chaotic Apalachin Meeting.įrank Hurley/New York Daily News via Getty Images Joseph Valachi was the first American Mafioso to break omertà, opening the floodgates for later informants. ![]() Joe Valachi’s Historic Betrayal Of The Genovese FamilyĪ Mafioso almost from childhood, Joseph Valachi eventually became a trusted soldier for mob boss Vito Genovese. And the communities from which they arose - and on which they preyed - cooperated with the code of omertà, often as a matter of pride.įor nearly 100 years, the American Mafia was a closed book to police, who could never manage to coerce or convince mobsters to give them a look into the secretive families. The poor neighborhoods where they lived proved fertile ground for new Mafia clans to flourish. In many North American cities, Italian immigrants were only grudgingly accepted, and many felt they couldn’t count on local police or governments to represent or protect them. But along with the many peaceful, law-abiding folk who traveled abroad came the men of honor. Under the reunified Kingdom of Italy, the southern provinces were still desperately poor, and many chose to emigrate in search of prosperity. Wikimedia Commons Criminal societies like the Camorra imported omertà to the United States, frustrating early attempts to penetrate Italian organized crime. The penalty for violating this rule was, without exception, death. In response, the uomini d’onore, or “men of honor,” adopted a simple, brutal principle: never talk to the authorities, under any circumstances, about criminal activities of any kind or committed by anyone, even mortal enemies. When these institutions were extended to the south, organized clans found themselves facing powerful new rivals. This was the birth of the Mafia and the dawn of the culture that paid tribute to them.Īfter northern and southern Italy merged into a single kingdom in the 1860s, the reborn state built a new court system and police forces. In the ensuing chaos, bands of brigands began to function as private armies for those who could pay. By the beginning of the 19th century, the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies was crumbling. More likely, however, is that it was adopted as a natural consequence of early criminal societies’ outlawry. Public Domain As the Mafia grew in the lawless atmosphere of 19th-century Sicily, so too did omertà. ![]()
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