Knowra Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz Dutch Schultz was an American gangster who built a New York criminal empire around bootlegging and the numbers racket during Prohibition. He was shot in 1935 while hospitalized after a gangland attack.
Prohibition in the United States : A nationwide ban on producing, importing, transporting, and selling alcoholic beverages, in force from 1920 to 1933. The liquor ban created the illegal market that financed Schultz's early rise.
Bootlegging : The illegal manufacture, transport, or sale of goods, especially alcoholic beverages during Prohibition. Illegal beer and liquor sales formed the foundation of Schultz's early criminal business.
Lucky Luciano : An Italian-American mobster who helped organize New York's criminal families and the National Crime Syndicate. Luciano was a powerful contemporary whose circle opposed Schultz's proposed murder of prosecutor Thomas Dewey.
Murder, Inc. : A press name for a group of contract killers associated with organized crime in New York during the 1930s and 1940s. Schultz's murder is often connected to the syndicate leaders who used contract violence to settle disputes.
The Public Enemy : A 1931 American crime film directed by William A. Wellman and starring James Cagney. Its fictional gangster helped shape the screen archetype against which real figures like Schultz were later viewed.
Bronx : A borough of New York City, located north of Manhattan. Schultz grew up and built much of his power in the Bronx.
Numbers game : An illegal lottery in which bettors wager on numbers drawn from public results or other events. Schultz's organization expanded into this widely played neighborhood gambling racket.
Thomas Dewey : An American prosecutor and politician who became governor of New York and twice ran for president. Schultz's threat to kill Dewey prompted other mob leaders to decide he had become too dangerous.
National Crime Syndicate : A term used for a loose network of American criminal groups that coordinated interests across cities. The decision to eliminate Schultz reflected the growing influence of inter-city criminal cooperation.
Gangster film : A crime-film genre centered on gangsters, organized crime, and struggles for power. Schultz's notoriety belongs to the same era that established the gangster as a popular cultural figure.
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