The Purple Gang (Organized Crime in Detroit 1910-1945)

Now back in print, this is a story of one of America’s most powerful and infamous groups of thugs and mobsters.

The Prohibition Era allowed the sinister practices of the black market to gain a foothold in American commerce. When legal trade was no longer allowed to supply American consumers with alcohol, they turned to those who could supply the booty. And so in Detroit, a city perfectly positioned to receive contraband from neighboring Canada, a group of young men grew in power and profile to become one of the nation’s most notorious gangs of organized crime.

The Purple Gang, as they came to be called, quickly rose to power and wealth. Alcohol, gambling, drugs and extortion were only some of the methods they used to make quick money. Law enforcement was powerless against the fearless “Purples” whose strong-arm tactics and bribery stretched from the local to the federal level, rendering them truly untouchable. Among the legendary leaders of the gang were Abe Axler, the four Bernstein brothers, and the cruel and violent thug, Harry Millman. When the gang put a contract out on Millman’s life, they imported killers from Murder, Inc.

During the chaos of the Prohibition Era, these men rose to the highest ranks of organized crime and then shattered it all with bloodthirsty greediness and murderous betrayal.