When you lose your money, you lose nothing. When you love your health, you lose something. When you lose your character, you lose everything. -Mayer Lansky
@@berzerker1100 what you want Lansky to incriminate him self on tv? Lol. You're a moron. He worked for the us gov during the ww2, which was one reason the gov never went after him hard.
@@SandorSoptei he was untouchable because a banking and media cartel protected him. America'ls had already been hijacked by corrupt people not just Lansky. Lansky is tied in with the JFK murder but this reporter who was probably also part of the media cartel would never get into Lansky connections to Ruby, Permindex, CIA and FBI traitors even up to LBJ. I can only describe it as a banking and media cartel that Lansky was a supporting component
@Operation Agathasounds like someone is triggered at Israel here.. but he was a ganster and a thug but he was also highly intelligent. He is one of the few figures in the organized crime who wasn't wacked or didn't end up jail, despite being near the top almost all of his life. You don't accomplish that with average intelligence.
+El Comandante Hannibal Shaka-Sakanouye no Tamuramaro-Zulu he didn't need to be educated you do realize he revolutionized gambling don't you? He pretty much invented the modern casino and casinos all over the world started using his methods and games even in Monte Carlo.
It's really funny-all these kid singers today claiming to be "Gangstas", holding a gun at a 45 degree angle and such. Meyer, Al,Charley and the rest claimed there was no such thing as organized crime and they were simply "businessmen". You gotta love it.
jetshockey5 you are wrong, Capone would be a billionaire in today's money. the most intelligent business man of the 20th century!!!! self made rags to riches gangster until the day he died
Gotti didn’t go “public” he was n the wrong era … he kept catchin cases n beatin them that’s how he became famous for winning trials against the feds nobody was doin that n still not
@@JosePremo0813 really.. that man does not deserve your protection... PERIOD... He was the mouth that killed the Italian thing.. he is Napalitan... the snake lies coiled in Naples.. stop protecting them.. your Scottish ancestry has its own bullies to contend with.. let us Sicilians deal with ours.. ty
Lansky was the smartest gangster of them all. He weaved his way around the law his whole life and helped build an empire. Others like Luciano, and Genovese went to jail. Lansky was never convicted of a major crime.
+Jim Perry He never went to jail because he had something on everybody in power, and connections who warned him whenever anything was going to go down. Or could threaten their families or someone they cared about. Friendship has no hold when you get to that level. Only fear.
One of the most dangerous men in History.This man was cold,calculating and smart not like the rest of the mafia of his era he was never convicted of any crimes
What a Genius!! R.I.P Meyer! What a Life, billionaire, but act like a normal Guy who has not to much like any other. Thanks for Upload. Support from Germany, Hamburg
Just because they were killers does not mitigate their organizational acumen. Luciano and Lansky directed the establishment of a criminal empire that at its height of power was earning billions of dollars a year. Killers, yes they were but you cannot deny their intelligence.
True legend. I mean this guy used to hang out with lucky Luciano, Albert Anastasia, bugsy Siegel, Dutch Shultz, Carlo Gambino, even Al Capone. He was there when it all began, and lived through the golden age of the underworld. Can you imagine the stories this guy had to tell in private?
Joe Bonnano, whom grew up at the same time as Lansky and had an arguably more senior position in the 1920s and 30s, could have googled himself. He died in 2002. A 1930s mobster who died in 2002!
This interview is from the time Lansky was attempting to get Israeli citizenship as he was wanted in the US. The irony is that once he was deported back to the US, he was found not guilty.
Lansky was 69yrs of age in this '71 interview, having been born in Belarus in 1902 fluent in Russian/Yiddish/English and as a mathematical savant, capable of vigorishly running numbers in his mind against all odds.
@@hanzen5174 He's talking about gambling, he could count cards in his head and likely had a high IQ, there's no arguing that he's one of the most intelligent criminals to ever live.
@@santinorocco497 Two figures who had tremendous effects on modern American history but they stuck to their code and avoided cameras. Obviously, Lansky made a move on Israeli TV as a plea to stay there, and he likely figured in 1971, considering those days, there wasn't any conception of a RU-vid or re-airing such a clip outside of Israel if it ever re-aired even in Israel.
First time i heard him talk, after i’ve seen dozens of videos about him and sure enough he seems like a very thoughtful clever man that totally knew what he was doing. Thats exactly the reason why he never set a foot on a prison like the other so called "gangsters”
What amazes me about Lansky is he started with absolutely nothing and at his peak was worth more than $300 million dollars. He helped turn the mafia into a multi-billion dollar business. It is extremely rare for a mobster to live a full life without doing time or being killed early on in their career. I've noticed the mobsters that manage to do this are quiet and they know when to get out of a bad situation before it gets worse. Lansky was Luciano's right hand man and main adviser when it came to running the mob. Everyone knew that he was a very important figure in their organization and killing him would be committing suicide financially.
These modern gangsters / rappers could learn a thing or 2 about real gangsters like this . They didn’t murder innocent people , or children , they didn’t snitch on themselves by bragging about what they did . Cool, calm, and collected
Lansky was a very wealthy and powerful Jewish mobster, but he had nothing compared to Arnold Rothstein. AR was the one that schooled Luciano and Lansky.
bodhitaichi No, I read books, not tv & movies. Rothstein schooled Lansky and Luciano; They admired him and he was their mentor. He was shot over a gambling debt and you mentioning Lansky being behind it is the first time I've heard that.
You know, you're absolutely right. Nobody really went down for AR's murder. I haven't read about Prohibition gangsters in forever and for reason I had it in my head that they killed him as I thought they got most of his rackets. But then again Dutch Schultz benefited. Hmm. Maybe I'll check out Boardwalk Empire. :) Sorry if it came off like I jumped on you there. I didn't intend to. There's a few mob forums that I'm a member and I'll ask some of the researchers their opinions. I'm kinda curious now. Regards.
bodhitaichi Quite alright, my good man. I love Boardwalk Empire. I enjoy reading about mobsters in those days. They were classier and they stuck to their code of omerta stronger than they do today. Luciano and Rothstein always fascinated me the most. I won't talk your head off. Have a good one, bro.
I Don't Have Man Boobs +bodhitaichi Just my two cents: "Boardwalk Empire" was great entertainment, but keep in mind, it was fictionalized (pardon me, if you know this already) stories about the real life gangsters of that time. It touched on real events, but again most of it was just well crafted stories. For something just as entertaining and more *factual* (and if you don't know about it already), check out: "The Making of the Mob: New York". It tells the story of Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky and the other gangsters forming and running organized crime in the '20s and '30s. It has actors playing Luciano and the infamous gangsters of the time and telling mob stories through reenactments and showing crime scene photos/film. Also it has crime reporters/ historians, etc., commenting on the various gangster battles and drama. It's shown on the AMC channel. Ray Liotta is the narrator (Henry Hill - "Goodfellas" (1990)). And in my opinion, it's entertaining (so far).
As good or as bad as he was, you gotta admire a criminal that was able to avoid jail time such as he was, difference between him and the rest of us is he was smart enough to pull it all off were we can all just dream of the money and power he had
To me he was gentleman and I liked him. I used to enjoy pleasurable and interesting morning chats with him as he walked along the path alongside the beach with his dog at the Tel- Aviv Beach In Israel. StrangeIy, apart from us being Jewish, in some ways we were very much alike.
They caught high ranking officials in compromising positions then blackmailed them - that’s why he never got caught. He was doing what Epstein/Maxwell were doing. The Mossad love a honeypot blackmail op.
+Brayen Zar if you have a russian godfather, albanian godfather, bulgaria godfather, why cant you have a jew godfather? you should be the one to FUCK OFF!!!!!
I highly recommend Hank Messick's book, Lansky. It makes great sense. Were talking about things people want hidden. He let the Italians catch the heat while he collected reliable men to work with and bribed pols/cops/communities. Started and headed the NCS, National Crime Syndicate which was national/global. Italians on the board. Most of the big events we've heard about were the official story almost all wrong. According to Messick Lansky/Luciano/Bugs took down Rothstein. Later Lansky got Lucky out during WW2 to 'help' Naval Intelligence; they tricked ONI--very little help. Lansky brought down Anastasia, who always was an enemy. On and on. He met Siegel the night before he was shot. He gave the word--Bugs was crazed at that point. Capone was a figurehead to catch heat which he did. One by one he got rid of all competition. He put together projects with multiple partners to keep everyone working together. Each casino/hotel was a puzzle piece of owners like a mozaic keeping the peace, and the money. Appalachen was set up by Lansky to get all the young upstarts arrested and known to the police. He bribed Dewey and helped get him Governor and out of the DA's office in NY. It goes on and on. He could have been head of the Mossad--they have guys like him. Never kill or make enemies when you can have a partner or bribe. All smart things. The Brain Rothstein did teach him and Lucky a lot of similar things, but Lansky perfected them and invented all the rest. Set up Murder Inc but it was only sub out by the NCS, not part of it. Smart. Get Messick's book (1971). Lansky was all over the world setting up casino/resorts because he wisely left NY to the Mafia and let them get famous. He banked in Switzerland with dirty banks in Fla etc. Btw Rothstein didn’t do the Black Sox but gladly took credit for it. Wasn’t really a fix any way.
Hyman Roth Meyer Lansky was a hero in the '30s when his men fought the Ultramagas of the era and during WW2 stopped Ultramaga sabotage of ships at NY waterfront.
After Lasnky died, the FBI looked for his hundreds of millions they were sure he had, and after not finding a dime, they concluded: "Lansky didn't own money, he owned people." That may also be true but the FBI didn't want to admit Lansky hid his fortune to never be found by the government. The man was a financial genius precisely cause he was always 10 steps ahead of the government.
He was a lot more then likable than Hyman Roth. Godfather 2 wouldn’t have been as fun if they made Hyman more true to Lansky. Would have been rooting for him over Michael.
is this on israeli tv? and is there a longer version than 4 minutes? please give me info on this interwiew, cause im assuming this is the only time he ever was on tv or got his voice recorded...
@@kieranreid31 Because he wasn’t that type of guy. He was exceptionally short, small built and just wasn’t a gangster. He was a businessman, but he definitely caused many deaths.
Crazy Fact: A lot of these gangsters from the prohibition era were small men. For example Meyer Lansky was 5’0” John Dillinger 5’7”. They survived The Great Depression, street gang fights with baseball bats, lead pipes, racism, then eventually Mafia/organized crime wars etc.. You would think they were giants with all the success they gained.
Be hilarious if all he was saying was true and he actually was not one of the most iconic mobsters of the 30's 40's and 50's, Just the media thought he was and wrote about it probably not the case but would be funny
+Conor Lumsden> Yeah, I think he's more myth than most people realize. Sure he knew some people, and they listened, but real power? Just maybe. I actually think he's telling the truth about the $300 mil. He lost his fortune in Cuba and Castro and I don't think he ever recovered. He's lying about "wishing he had one million." He had that much, but his family is still looking for that 300. If he ever had it, all the people over seas "entrusted" with it would have stolen it. Was he going to sue them? I think he was a very influential advisor/associate to the mob, and that's all, the rest is Hollywood and the media.
