'Hoboken, the Land of Plenty'

By Robert Berry

My father was an immigrant from Italy. He came to America and had a hard beginning. However, he was a proud man and would never take any kind of abuse, either verbal or physical from anyone. As an Italian, he was treated poorly on job places and usually quit the same day after attacking his supervisor. I was the only person in our Italian family who was intrigued by some of my father's stories, and it was therefore the reason why I began interviewing him as often as I could to gather information about his life. I told him that I wanted nothing but the truth, and he agreed that the information I would gather would be the absolute truth. My family was intrigued by how I put his story in an understandable chronology of events, and it was they who told me that I should put the information in book form. My friends who read my manuscript said that once they started to read the book, they couldn't put it down.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Sep 30, 2015
• ISBN: 9781514403105

Robert Berry

Robert Berry graduated Magna Cum Laude from Creighton University in 2013 with a degree in Finance. He currently lives in Clear Lake, Iowa.

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Copyright © 2015 by Bobby Berry.

Library of Congress Control Number:   2015914315

ISBN:            Hardcover                        978-1-5144-0312-9

                      Softcover                          978-1-5144-0311-2

                      eBook                               978-1-5144-0310-5

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Rev. date: 09/30/2015

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Contents

Forward

Chapter 1

Chapter 2 1909, Gilliarmo comes to America

Chapter 3 1913, Willie finally contacts his brother Joe

Chapter 4 1915, Willie goes into the United States Army during WWI

Chapter 5 Willie becomes associated with the Mafia in Hoboken

Chapter 6 1938, Willie’s daughter Evelyn taking on the roll of ‘Woman of the House’

Chapter 7 Willie meets Mr. Zeepa

Chapter 8 Hoboken in its prime years

Chapter 9 The mob finds Hoboken no longer profitable

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Book Chronology

Dedication

T his book is dedicated to those Italian immigrants who bombarded this country in the late 1800s and early 1900s in search of a better life. My father was one of those immigrants. It is also dedicated to all and any minorities who have been victimized as a result of prejudices then and now; however, the definition of ‘minorities’ needs to be redefined in this day and age. It goes without saying, that while America was, and is, the melting pot of the world with all kinds of nationalities, races, and religions, it nevertheless has not yet learned how to become a nation of ‘one people’. However, it cannot be denied that there is now, and has always been a strange unity when it becomes necessary. How America continues to thrive as the most powerful country in the world, both economically and militarily, in spite of its trials and tribulations for hundreds of years, continues to astonish the world. It remains an unexplained phenomenon.

Forward

T his book is not a story about fictitious places, persons, and events. Rather, it is a story about factual events that occurred in real places with real people. The principal character in this book, (my father) while a tyrant during many fazes of his life, was, at the same time, a most giving and caring man in so many other ways. One could argue; So was Hitler. This book will portray all sides of his character, while revealing how things really were in those days of the big migration for a small time, unimportant Italian man and his family. Too often, when a story concerns Italians, we only hear about the big shots and the Italian Dons, but rarely do we know, or perhaps care about what really went on in the lives of the small shots who worked for the big shots. Some of the names of people I shall be referring to have been changed for obvious reasons, while others remain unchanged. The events that transpired during this period of time are accurate and factual to the best of my memory and belief. As the author, I owe a great deal of gratitude to the principal character of this book, my Dad, for his candid portrayal of events. I might add, that I was a witness to many of the events mentioned in this book, even at a very early age from the 1930s through the end of my Dad’s life. For my father to trust me with his inner most feelings, and to trust that I would, someday, adequately portray the events of his life in either a book, or a family document, further gratifies me. The original intent for the gathering of events of my father’s life was for the purpose of preparing a history for future family posterity, however; friends, family, and just people at random who have read the manuscript while it was in draft, have persuaded me to write this book. Hopefully, the general public will perceive the story in the same way.

Most of the interviews between my father and I took place in Orlando, Florida while others took place in Biloxi, Mississippi, where I was stationed during a portion of my 27 year Air Force career. The Florida interviews were always at my sister Evelyn’s house under an old orange tree in her back yard over a period of many years.

Toward the end of my father’s life, he was 81 years old and on a very fast downhill slide; health wise. However, during my years of living in Florida prior to entering the Air Force, my father and I also spent a good deal of time together reminiscing about things in our lives over the years. It was those earlier meetings that finally set me in motion toward putting his life together in a more understandable and chronological way. The volume of notes over the years from our sessions would, most likely, fill a bathtub.

This story has its’ beginning during the late 1800s and early 1900s. This was a period when immigrants of all nationalities wanted to come to the ‘land of plenty’ in search of a variety of freedoms, whether it be religious, economic, or a combination of both. It was also a time when Africans were sold into slavery by their own people, representing their path of migration to all parts of the world. Prior to these arrivals, most migrants visualized America as a place of rich happy people who got along well, and who were at peace with the world. Most were leaving their countries because of mistreatment by the governments of their homeland. Little did any of them realize that they would be facing people who were not only wealth conscious, but class, race, and nationality conscious as well. This was a time when the Irish hated the Italians, yet the Irish men married Italian women and Italian men married Irish women. It was also a period when the Germans felt that there was an inferiority about other nationalities, and when other nationalities looked upon Jews as money hungry people and resented their prosperity. Jews were referred to as ‘Kikes’. Blacks were ‘Spades’, or ‘Coons’ in the north, and ‘Niggers’ in the south. Chinese had the nick name ‘Chinks’. Irish were called ‘Micks’ and were thought to be drunken brawlers. Italians were commonly referred to as ‘Wops’ and fell into the class of being ruthless gangsters. Germans were ‘Krouts’ and not trusted by other immigrants. Japanese were ‘Slant Eyes’. The list of labels just went on, and on, and on. The use of these labels for people is still alive and well today, as they were back in the 1920s and 30s, I might point out. In the minds of some, these nicknames were merely identifiers and had no real meaning, while for others, there was, and is, a direct correlation with these names and the way people actually felt about each other. Yet, through the entire name calling, and the racial and ethnic discrimination, each group was intelligent enough to find a way to work side by side, when necessary, to serve their individual needs. In spite of these prejudices and indifferences, America the country, continued to prosper, while America the people of the ghettos, continued to struggle. How much of these prejudices still linger today is up for grabs. Some would say, Oh, it’s not like that anymore, while others would perhaps say, It’s better than it once was, but by no means perfect. The latter would probably be the better assessment of the two views, but not necessarily a totally true assessment. The truth is, that American government has legislated equal opportunity for all, but has not, and cannot, legislate the removal of people’s inborn prejudices. Prejudice is something that is taught from childhood and usually carries into adulthood. This book is not intended to be representative of a political statement as pertains to prejudices, but rather, just how one of these migrant families lived, died, and survived, in spite of these existing prejudices. It has to be mentioned however, that the most blatant of all prejudices and injustices throughout America’s history was, unequivocally; slavery, and the mistreatment of Japanese-Americans during World War II, together with the mistreatment of Italian-Americans who together were branded ‘enemy aliens’. The combined total of these two nationalities was over 600,000 human beings, resulting in not only confiscation of the property of the Japanese, but the confinement of over 50,000 Japanese for the duration of the war. Fifty years after WWII, Congress finally passed legislation that, within the very framework of that legislation, admitted that there was a deliberate policy in place that kept these atrocities from the public over the years. Even after fifty years, much of the information on this event of history remains classified. The public has a right to know the full story, but still does not have it. While this book relates particularly to the Italians and how they survived, no one can deny the strides made by all the migrant groups of America throughout this country’s growth in becoming, the richest country in the world, (or at least once was) with the poorest people. The ‘poorest people’ refers to those who still have to pay taxes, since the rich are practically immune from that burden, but that would be another book in itself. This story, while true, does not attempt to condemn nor glorify Italians, but does, however, address a mere portrayal of how one unimportant Italian man and his family endured in the land of plenty.

Chapter 1

T he story begins around the late 1800s in a small mountain village area of Italy called Palombara Sabina, about 22 miles from Rome. For centuries, this area has been called, ‘The Sabina’. The Sabine tribes came from the Adriatic coast and settled in the area around the tenth century B.C. The area was then, as it is now, rich in vineyards, olive oil, and extensive oak wood forests.

Gilliarmo Luttazi, who was born in the year 1891, was now a boy of thirteen years old. His family had ten chickens and two goats, which was considered prosperity among peasants of the village. Gilliarmo was a very enterprising boy for his age. He often took eggs from nearby neighbors to put with the eggs he had gathered for his mother, realizing that if he stole a small amount from several neighbors, it would go undetected and his family would have more to eat. He did the same when obtaining goat’s milk and the neighbors were never the wiser. There were no barriers or fences in this beautiful picturesque village, and people often ignored little children in their areas who were thought to be, ‘just playing’. Gilliarmo learned at an early age that, to survive, if you couldn’t afford to buy something, and you wanted or needed it, you had to just take it. He did this with clear conscience, developing the attitude that, as long as you needed the item more than the person who owned it, this would be justification for taking it. This became his mandate throughout his life and served his purposes well. Strangely enough, while stealing and other crimes were acceptable to him, lying was not. He could not stand being lied to, especially when the lie came from an immediate family member.

Unlike most boys of his village, Gilliarmo loved going to school and was in love with his teacher, which increased his learning curve greatly. He recalls his teacher as being the Sofia Loren of her time. He recalls her telling the children that the language of the world was English, and that if they were ever fortunate enough to live in America, they would become rich if they could speak English. So, not only did Gilliarmo work hard on learning English, but other languages as well. Going to America would remain the dominant force throughout his teens. To live in America with the ability to speak English became his goal. He spent hours on end having his teacher work with him on English conversation and reading. While he was no longer in her classroom, they worked after school at her house for several years after he left her class. She had old magazines from America that she would help him read. By the time he was 16, he was still in love with his old teacher who assisted him in his first venture of having intercourse with a woman over twice his age. During the course of