Dead Men’s Secrets - America And The Mob - Wartime Friends

Did the Mafia set fire to the Normandie?
 
Eyewitnesses to the fire give their accounts.

Would the US government pay the mob "protection"?

In February of 1942, the ocean liner Normandie caught fire off of New York´s piers. It was being converted from a civilian vessel into a military troop carrier. Officially, negligence during welding was the culprit. Unofficially, it was a suspected act of Nazi sabotage. America was fully embroiled in World War II and could ill afford future setbacks. Did the military pay the mob to ensure that no other accidents would occur?

Military scholars and Mafia experts offer their opinions on this interesting question. A common gangster "shakedown" involves creating an accident so that the victim pays "protection" money to ensure that future accidents do not occur. Could the mob have tried this tactic against the US government? Hear from anonymous eyewitnesses who saw the fire. Find out what Lucky Luciano had to say about the incident. Discover if the US succumbed to domestic pressure while fighting an international war.

Upplagd i sortimentet: 6 Augusti, 2008