Was genau bedeutet "Capo"?

[mountainking]

habe einmal eine frage: oftmals hört man in der fanszene von sogenannten "capos". kann mir jemand erklären, woher diese wort stammt? ist das aus dem italienischen und bedeutet kopf bzw. haupt? und wieso wird dieses wort für wen eingesetzt?

und gibt es zu diesem wort auch politische hintergründe (wie z.b. das wort "kapo", das von den nazis verwendet wurde)?

danke für eure hilfe!

[Gast nun c'è problema]

"il capo" ist italienisch und bedeutet chef.

"il capo della famiglia" kann man zwar auch mit "der kopf der familie" übersetzen, demit ist allerdings nicht der physische körperteil gemeint.

kopf (das ding auf den schultern) wird mit "la testa" übersetzt.

[mountainking]

dankeschön!

[DUX]

allerdings kommt capo vom lateinischen caput heißt zwar kopf/haupt, wird zb aber in mafiakreisen als oberhaupt bezeichnet

[MILANISTA]

allerdings kommt capo vom lateinischen caput heißt zwar kopf/haupt, wird zb aber in mafiakreisen als oberhaupt bezeichnet

943686[/snapback]

Naja, also wenn wir schon bei "Capo" sind, dann bitte gleich ganz genau!

Ein Capo (abkürzung für Caporegime oder Capodecina) ist der Chef einer "Mafia-Crew", die meistens etwa 10 Soldaten umfasst, die wiederrum ein gewisses Territorium beherrscht, und einem Sotto Capo, der Nr.2, dem weltlichen Handlanger der Bosses, untersteht.

Alles klar?

PS: für alle die es interessiert, hier ne Zusammenfassung meines Spezialgebiets in English, "The Mafia"!

T H E M A F I A

The Story of Organised Crime

1) Introduction

An invisible government under the whip of the Mafia, the government of syndicated crime, has enveloped much of the Western world like a cancerous growth, stubbornly defying the prognosis and treatment of law enforcement agencies. The plunder cascading into the coffers of this empire amounts to as much as ten percent of the national income of the United States of America.

Millions of Americans, knowingly and unknowingly, are compelled to contribute a part of their hard-earned wages or income to the big business of international crime.

No single underworld group has survived the ravages of time nor the onslaught of crime fighters as well as this, most extensive, most effective criminal body in the world. There are many who feel that the power of the Mafia does not prevail any longer, that “Mafia” is just a word loosely used by sensationalist headline writers to boost the sales of newspapers, magazines and books, to boost box office sales, and to hype the ratings for network television shows.

The Mafia today is a relatively loosely-knit group who work together for their mutual well-being and continued dominance of criminal objectives and who share in a way of life that brings its followers an understanding of trust for one another. Their efforts are concentrated, to a very large extent, in narcotics. The Mafia is the principal and dominating agent in drug trafficking, and the rise of Colombians, Haitians, Puerto Ricans, Chinese and other newcomers to the field has not lessened the Mafia’s domination.

The Mafia is also deeply involved in illicit activities such as gambling, the coin machine rackets, juke box businesses, pizza parlour operations (which are also used as fronts for drug trafficking and money-laundering), prostitution, extortion, smuggling and counterfeiting. Then, too, the Mafia has become deeply entrenched in the control over such lucrative legitimate ventures as trucking, restaurant supplies and restaurants, laundry services, night-clubs, labour unions, garbage hauling, beer and soft drink distributorships, garment manufacturing, ready-mix concrete and many others. They have also intruded into the world of sports. Men from the crime kingdom exercise powerful influences over boxing, harness racing, dog races and other professional sports.

But the Mafia, as it was originally known, did not begin as a criminal agency. Its infamous web has only been spun over the last century. Prior to then, it was an underground patriotic society, born more than seven hundred years ago on the Mediterranean island of Sicily. The Mafia rose to prominence in the thirteenth century as a resistance group to foreign oppression. Through the centuries Sicily had been invaded repeatedly by Arabs, Normans, Germans, French and Spaniards. The underground organisation was formed to conduct warfare against these intruders. For hundreds of years the society was held together only by an indomitable spirit of patriotism to repel all foreigners.

The advent of Prohibition in 1920 gave rise to the Mafia as we know it today in the United States of America. Many Mafiosi who had emigrated in the USA since the turn of the century and dealt in shakedowns and extortion of the hapless Italian newcomers became aware of the lucrative rewards in bootlegging, the illegal production or distribution of proscribed or highly taxed goods, and rum-running, which opened the way to a climb to power.

Many of the hard survivors of those early roaring twenties days of mobsterism emerged as overlords of organised crime in the thirties and kept their power into the forties, fifties, sixties and even the seventies.

Among them are:

Frank Costello, Vito Genovese, Al “Scarface” Capone, Michele “Mike” Miranda, Tony Accardo, Joseph Profaci, Michael “Mike” Spinella, Joseph “Joe Adonis” Doto, Thomas “Three Finger Brown” Luchese, Anthony “Tony Bender” Strollo, Albert Anastasia, Anthony “Little Augi Pisano” Carfano, ...

2) How to become a Member of the Mafia

Contrary to general belief, the Mafia in the last sixty years has not restricted its membership to Sicilian emigrants or their descendants, nor even to those of Italian extraction. Membership in the Mafia is achieved through diverse ways: by birth, marriage or through the sponsorship of relatives or close friends.

Members are selected for their particular aptitudes and abilities in the toils of the underworld. Those with unusual talents who can serve to further the Mafia’s aims and controls in the rackets are initiated as “brothers” regardless of national origin.

But gaining acceptance in the Mafia is a slow, gradual process. A candidate no longer goes through the ancient religious-flavoured ritual of being transformed into a “brother”. Now he puts in a period of apprenticeship as a full-fledged member’s stooge, moving with him in Mafia circles and lighting his cigars and cigarettes, running his errands, raking in his bets, collecting extortion and carrying out murders.

The area of the underworld in which the candidate receives his experience depends upon his sponsor’s particular speciality, which could be narcotics, prostitution, labour extortion, gambling or other unlawful arena in which the Mafia is entrenched. When his protégé proves himself and is ready for full-fledged membership in the organisation, a sponsor will take him on as a partner or set him up with a racket operation of his own in a neighbouring territory.

Once thus established, the new member is eligible for all the protection, secrets and privileges incumbent on the Mafia to provide its own. It is a union that can be dissolved only by death.

3) The Structure in the Families

Boss: Also called Don. He is the man with all of the power in the Family. He gives the orders, and the rest of the Family is expected to follow them without question.

Underboss (Sotto Capo): He is the second-in-command. He is usually the word on the street, so to speak. He controls the day-to-day operations of the Family.

Consigliere: The consigliere acts as a “advisor" to the boss. He is directly under the boss in terms of the hierarchy, but he doesn't normally give orders.

Capo: Short for capodecina or caporegime, he is a leader of a "crew" or decina (literally, "group of ten") of ten to fifteen soldiers.

Soldier: These are the guys that do the dirty work. They are still "made" guys. Also each soldier may have a few associates hanging out with him.

Associates: These guys do the real dirty work. Associates are not "made" guys, they just hang around with the crew. They often are willing to do anything to get "made", and therefore handle a lot of hits.

4) The Beginnings (In the 1920s)

During the 1920s in America, there were five powerful gangs:

∙) Joe “The Boss” Masseria’s gang was the largest and most powerful, and included such notables as Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Frank Costello and Joseph “Joe Adonis” Doto

∙) Al Mineo´s gang was closely allied with Masseria and included Albert Anastasia

∙) The Castellammarese clan was headed by Sal Maranzano and had branches in Buffalo (led by Stevano Magaddino) and Detroit (led by Gaspar Milazzo).

∙) Tom Reina´s gang

∙) Joe Profaci´s gang

Joe “the Boss” was generally recognised as having the final say in decisions that involved different gangs. Basically, three of the other four gangs bowed to Masseria. The exception was the Castellammarese Clan, who were Masseria’s rivals. Sometime in the 1920s, one of Masseria’s lieutenants, Frankie Yale, sent Al Capone to Chicago to help with problem there While there, Capone got into a conflict with a Sicilian that was very close to Milazzo (Maranzano´s man in Detroit). Masseria and Milazzo were brought into this feud, and Masseria had killed Millazzo in Detroit. This drew Maranzano into the battle, and a war broke out in New York between Masseria and Maranzano (The Castellammarese War).

As powerful as Masseria’s gang was, the tides started to change with the killing of two of Masseria’s strongest allies. Things quickly went downhill for Joe the Boss. Carlo Gambino, seeing that Masseria’s power was slipping, joined up with Maranzano. Luciano and Genovese, who quickly did the same, plotted with Maranzano to kill Masseria. Maranzano and Luciano had a meeting. The men agreed that there was no profit to be had from the bloody war going on. Maranzano told Luciano that he knew what he had to do to end the war. In fact, Maranzano told Luciano that he would give Luciano a slice of the pie if he killed Masseria. The hit was arranged with the gunmen being Vito Genovese, Albert Anastasia, Joe Adonis, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel.

Approximately one month after Masseria’s murder, Maranzano (now the leader of New York's underworld) held a meeting of all the gangs, detailing how the Mafia was now going to be organised. He called the combined organisation La Cosa Nostra, which means “This Thing of Ours”.

Now Maranzano appointed the heads of the Families. Actually, many of those appointed were already the leaders of their gangs, Maranzano just made it official.

The new Families would be arranged as follows:

∙) Masseria’s gang would be given to Luciano, with Vito Genovese as his underboss (and would later become the Genovese Family)

∙) The Mineo gang would now be headed by Frank Scalise

(and would later be known as the Gambino Family)

∙) Maranzano would continue to head his gang

(which would become the Bonanno Family)

∙) Gaetano Gagliano would take over Tom Reina's gang, and Tommy Lucchese would be his underboss

(this would become the Lucchese Family)

∙) Joe Profaci would keep his gang, since he stayed neutral during the war (this would later become the Colombo Family)

In Chicago, Maranzano expectedly appointed Al Capone, who was already very much in charge. The Cleveland boss would be Francisco Milano, and the Buffalo Family would be headed by Stefano Magaddino.

A big Roman history buff, Maranzano organised La Cosa Nostra the way the Roman Empire was structured under Caesar. With this structure, Maranzano was separated from any actual criminal activity by many layers of men. Maranzano called himself the capo di tutti capi, the boss of all bosses. He also instituted some rules for La Cosa Nostra, such as the requirement that its members be Italian.

Luciano´s power was increasing now that he controlled the Family that used to be under Masseria’s control, and Maranzano realised that he would have to kill Luciano in order to hold on to his power. As luck would have it, Luciano found out about this, killed Maranzano in September of 1931, and became the most powerful man in La Cosa Nostra. Joe Bonanno was chosen as Maranzano's replacement as boss of his Family, and Vincent Mangano replaced Scalise (who was very close to Maranzano).

5) The Commission

Luciano, recognising that other Family bosses were tired of the endless wars, early deaths, and autocratic leadership and so he created the Commission. Each Family boss had a seat on the Commission, which acted as a controlling government for La Cosa Nostra, setting policies and settling disputes between Families. Luciano also welcomed Jewish and Irish gangsters as non-member associates and added the position of consigliere to the Family structure .

6) Their continuous Rise to Power

There were several different factors that contributed to the growth of organised crime in America. The interesting thing about this is that all of the factors just happened to appear at once, creating a perfect environment for the birth of a nation-wide, organised criminal power with political connections.

It began in the neighbourhoods. The turn of the century was a time of a great amount of immigration to America for the Irish, Italian, and Jewish in particular. Since everyone moved here together, naturally, they lived together, so Irish neighbourhoods, Italian neighbourhoods, and Jewish neighbourhoods grew from this among others. These ethnic neighbourhoods appeared in major cities, like New York and Chicago, during the turn of the century (I mean from the 19th to the 20th). This close-knit living situation established solidarity among these peoples, particularly since they were in an unfamiliar country. Italians came from a country with an oppressive government to a country where they knew no one except other Italians. They were minorities living in the ghettos and thus were at the bottom of the socio-economic scale. They were often harassed by police officers. This fostered an "Us Against Them" attitude.

Now some of these Italian immigrants were Mafiosi who had come from the old country to America and they continued their criminal activities. Due to the solidarity in the neighbourhoods, the Mafiosi could conduct their illicit business in their neighbourhoods easily and could count on being warned of a stranger's approach by the people of the neighbourhood.

“Those men are bad people, but they are our bad people.”

The Mafiosi were considered by the people of the neighbourhood to be the neighbourhood’s policemen. The people would come to the Mafiosi with

problems that needed to be solved, and the Mafiosi would solve them. As a result, street crime was and continues to be very low in mob controlled areas.

While gangs had some control, it was mostly confined to specific neighbourhoods, until the 1920s. With prohibition in 1920, the government paved the road for organised crime the way it is today. By outlawing alcohol, the government took away something that a vast number of citizens were used to having, thus, even though it was outlawed, it wasn't considered bad in the mind of the average citizen. However, since it was illegal, only those willing to commit crimes were making money off of it.

Even though it was illegal, people continued to drink, so the gangsters took the profits rather than the government. Gangsters accumulated great wealth as a result of bootlegging and started buying their own trucks and hauling liquor to other parts of the country. As a result of this, they necessarily made connections with gangsters in other cities and established cross-country alliances. Their wealth also continued to grow due to this nation-wide expansion of business. As an example of the kind of money made during this period: When Al Capone took control of his gang, it was making over $100 million a year (this is when he got control; it grew much bigger under his control). Also, Joe Kennedy's family, generations later, is still living off of his fortune (he made his money and political connections from bootlegging and rum-running, in case you were unaware). You must also keep in mind that this kind of money was being made in the 1920s and 1930s, when much of the country was dirt poor. Imagine how much money that would be today. Imagine what $100 million would buy in the 1930s, everything and everyone. Politicians, judges, lawyers, cops and others in lofty positions were put on gang payrolls, which made the gangs invulnerable.

One reason the Italians cornered the market and prospered when the other ethnic gangs of the time did not was their use of violence. It was often said that, while the Jews had the money, the Italians held the power of life and death. For example, everyone knew that Meyer Lansky was the financial genius, but he still answered to Charles "Lucky" Luciano.

Today, these things are embedded in society. Relationships with powerful officials are passed down from one official leaving office to the new man taking his place, and La Cosa Nostra's wealth continues to grow.

7) Alphonse “Scarface” Capone (1899 –1947)

Chicago gangster & murderer

He grew up in the slums of Brooklyn and received the nickname „Scarface“ as the result of a knife wound (3 scars on the left side of his face) inflicted by Frank Galluccio, a tough hood, in a quarrel about a girl at a Brooklyn bar in 1917. In 1920, Capone moved to Chicago to work for Johnny Torrio, a syndicate chief. The Torrio-Capone gang engaged in war with other mobs, killing rival leaders, such as Charles Dion O´Bannion in 1924. Capone soon took control from Torrio and organised the syndicate with a plan to make crime in Chicago and throughout the United States run like a business monopoly. He established a $ 100-million-a-year empire out of bootleg liquor, gambling, prostitution and labour rackets. Through violence, using sawed-off shotguns and machine guns, Capone became king of the Chicago underworld, “The Master Criminal.” His henchmen machine-gunned to death seven members of the Moran gang on February 14, 1929, in what became known as the St. Valentine's Day Massacre. The Chicago police tried many times to shut down Capone´s numerous speakeasies and breweries, but failed; too many of Capone´s interests were tied to legitimate business and too many politicians and officials were indebted to Capone for their jobs. In 1931, he was found guilty of income tax evasion and sentenced to 11 years imprisonment. Suffering from severe syphilitic paresis, probably acquired during his youth, Capone was released from prison in 1939. He retired to his Florida estate, where he died of bronchial pneumonia and a stroke on January 25, 1947.

8 ) Vito Genovese, Frank Costello & Charles Luciano

The three most famous Mafia members behind Scarface.

a) Vito Genovese (1897-1969)

Italian-born New York racketeer, gangster and murderer. As underboss to Charles “Lucky” Luciano in the 1920s, he ran lucrative narcotics & brothel rackets in Manhattan. Genovese worked his way through the Mafia ranks, killing off his rivals & establishing himself as a director of the national crime syndicate. In 1937, he fled to Italy to escape prosecution for the 1934 murder of mobster Ferdinand “The Shadow” Boccia. A close friend of Benito Mussolini, Genovese took control of the Italian black market and directed narcotics smuggling into the U.S.

After World War 2, he returned to the U.S. to face the murder charge (it was dismissed) and he set about making himself king of the American underworld. Genovese ordered the killing of Mafia chief Willie Morretti in 1951, Steven Franse in 1953 and Albert Anastasia in 1957. At the famed Appalachian meeting (of the Mafia in upstate NY) in 1957, Genovese, or “Don Vitone”, was recognised as the “boss of bosses.”

Two years later, he was convicted of smuggling and selling narcotics and sentenced to prison in Atlanta. While behind bars, Genovese directed rackets and ordered dozens of killings. Transferred to Leavenworth, he died there, in his cell of a heart attack.

b) Francesco Castiglia alias Frank Costello (1891-1973)

Italian-born New York racketeer and gangster. He ran lucrative gambling and bootlegging businesses during Prohibition and helped establish the national crime syndicate in the 1930s. Costello cemented friendships with NYC police, judges and politicians by doing favours and raising money for them. In the 1940s, he branched out into the gem-smuggling racket. Costello managed to stay out of the limelight until the U.S. Senate Crime Investigating Committee, chaired by Estes Kefauver, probed him for information about the syndicate in 1951 and labelled him the “Prime Minister of the Underworld”. On orders from Vito Genovese, who wanted to take over Costello´s gambling empire, a gunman tried unsuccessfully to assassinate Costello in 1957.

Soon afterward Costello was convicted of conspiracy, contempt and income tax evasion and sent to prison. After his release, he retired on Long Island, where he died on February 18, 1973.

c) Charles “Lucky” Luciano (1897-1962)

Salvatore Luciana also known as Charles “Lucky” Luciano.

Luciano died of a so called heart attack in 1962 just before he was to travel to Rome, where he planned to meet with a Spanish film producer, who would make a movie about Luciano´s life. Maybe someone didn't like the idea of Luciano talking about the past. His funeral was the biggest ever seen in Napoli.

9) Today’s Mafia

It has been called The Outfit, The Arm, The Clique, The Tradition, The Syndicate, The Honoured Society, The Office, and The Combination, but to its members it is La Cosa Nostra (this thing of ours). The face of the Mafia has changed from the faceless, mysterious, and impenetrable power that it was fifty years ago. Fifty years ago, no member of La Cosa Nostra would have considered breaking omerta, the code of silence which, in many ways, is responsible for the power of the Mafia. To do this was to be labelled a "rat" (called that because a rat will do anything to survive) and be marked for certain death. Today, things are different. It has been blamed on drugs, and it has been blamed on youth. One thing is certain: powerful members of the Mafia have broken omerta, and the entire organisation has paid the price.

The organisation members of nowadays lack respect for tradition and for the family, they have succumbed to the influence of drugs, both as traffickers and as users. As a result, they have become more greedy, selfish, more violent. Many have chosen to forsake omerta, the traditional vow of silence and turn in other family members to save their own skins.

It has changed since the Beginnings, especially in the last few years with the growth of narcotics. Greed is causing younger members to go into narcotics without the knowledge of the families. These younger members lack the discipline.

It started with Joe Valachi, a soldier in the Genovese Family that turned informer and was the source of The Valachi Papers by Peter Maas in 1963. He's not the only one. The most damaging testimony of all was perhaps that of Salvatore "Sammy Bull" Gravano, underboss to Gambino Family boss, John Gotti. This testimony led to Gotti´s life sentence in prison.

Just because La Cosa Nostra members are breaking omerta more readily does not make this practice any less dangerous. It is still considered a death sentence. In fact, it may be argued that today's Mafia is more violent and quicker to use deadly force than the Mafia of times past. In today's Mafia, you can never be sure which end of the gun you are on.

[Gast nun c'è problema]

der capo ist ein chef. chef's gibts von mir aus auch bei der mafia. aber das wort capo wird ganz normal umgangssprachlich verwendet. in jedem wörterbuch wird capo mit chef übersetzt. e basta.

[MILANISTA]

der capo ist ein chef. chef's gibts von mir aus auch bei der mafia. aber das wort capo wird ganz normal umgangssprachlich verwendet. in jedem wörterbuch wird capo mit chef übersetzt. e basta.

944516[/snapback]

hat ja nie wer angezweifelt!