- Jake Guzik
Jake "Greasy Thumb" Guzik (
May 20 ,1886 –February 21 ,1956 ) was the financial and legal advisor, and later political “greaser ”, for theChicago Outfit .Early life
Born near
Kraków ,Poland . (although other sources stateMoscow ,Russia ) onMay 20 ,1886 , Guzik immigrated to theUnited States in the early 1900s. His parents were immigrants fromKatowice , Poland. He later became involved inprostitution , andallege dlywhite slavery , in the South Side of Chicago's Leveevice district with his brotherHarry Guzik eventually driving rivalJack Zuta out of business. He later became a powerful political "fixer" operating fromSt. Hubert’s Old English Grill and Chop House ; Guzik received "bagmen" who delivered scheduled payoffs to variouspolice precinct s andcity official s.Chicago Outfit
In the early 1920s, Guzik, supposedly hearing a plan to murder
Al Capone , informed him and later allied with the Chicago Outfit. OnMay 8 ,1924 Capone personally killed rivalgang member andhijacker Joe Howard in asaloon onSouth Wabash Avenue after he hadassault ed Guzik and called him names. Guzik continued to act as abagman for the Chicago Outfit until April 1930 when Guzik and Ralph "Bottles" Capone, brother of Al Capone, wereconvict ed oftax evasion . Guzik himself, found to have earned over $1 million, wascharge d with paying only $225,000. In OctoberJudge John H. Lyle issuedarrest warrant s for twenty-sixgangster s, including Guzik, charging them with vagrancy. Guzik's defense claimed he was ahorse player and, as proof he was an honest citizen, noted that he was living less than a block away from thestate attorney . Guzik was latersentence d to five yearsimprisonment .Later years
Upon his release Guzik assumed total control over the Chicago Outfit's finances for the next twenty years as a high ranking member of the Chicago Outfit, representing the Chicago
crime syndicate in the The Commission, known as the "Big Six", until his death from a heart attack onFebruary 21 ,1956 .Guzik was much admired and protected by Capone, partially because of his complete loyalty and fiscal honesty to Capone and his organization, and partially because of his quiet, businesslike and low profile way of taking care of gang affairs. While not known for certain, it is frequently cited that Guzik never carried a gun a day in his life.
In popular culture
Guzik was portrayed by actor
Nehemiah Persoff on three episodes of the popular 1959-63 ABC crime dramaThe Untouchables . He was portrayed byJoe Turkel in the 1967Roger Corman directed filmThe St. Valentine's Day Massacre .Further reading
*Binder, John. "The Chicago Outfit". Arcadia Publishing, 2003. ISBN 0-7385-2326-7
*Johnson, Curt and R. Craig Sautter. "The Wicked City: Chicago from Kenna to Capone". New York: Da Capo Press, 1998. ISBN 0-306-80821-8
*Reppetto, Thomas A. "American Mafia: A History of Its Rise to Power". New York: Henry Holt & Co., 2004. ISBN 0-8050-7798-7References
*Kelly, Robert J. "Encyclopedia of Organized Crime in the United States". Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 2000. ISBN 0-313-30653-2
*Sifakis, Carl. "The Mafia Encyclopedia". New York: Da Capo Press, 2005. ISBN 0-8160-5694-3
*Sifakis, Carl. "The Encyclopedia of American Crime". New York: Facts on File Inc., 2001. ISBN 0-8160-4040-0External links
* [http://www.carpenoctem.tv/mafia/guzik.html Seize The Night - Jake Guzik]
* [http://www.newcriminologist.co.uk/news.asp?id=761318689 New Criminologist Mob update: The Guziks]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=2653&pt=Jack%20Guzik Jack Guzik] atFind-A-Grave
* [http://www.americanmafia.com/Cities/Chicago.html AmericanMafia.com - 26 Mafia Cities: Chicago, IL] by John J. Binder
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