TEXT 32: Hans Van Meegeren, 1889—1947
Van Meegeren will go down in history as one of the greatest of all art forgers. His work fooled all the experts. Before the Second World War Van Meegeren was a struggling artist in Holland who gradually became embittered by the fact that his own painting was not appreciated. He therefore painted a number of works in the style of Vermeer, which were accepted as the real thing. The six 'Vermeers' he painted were sold for huge sums of money: five to Dutch museums and the sixth to Hermann Goering, the German Nazi leader, for 165,000 pounds during the war. When the war was over, the sale of the picture to Goering was traced to Van Meegeren, who was accused of collaborating with the Germans. To save himself, Van Meegeren confessed to having forged the painting, but had to paint another 'Vermeer' while the experts watched, before anyone would believe him. He was tried in 1947 on a charge of forgery and sentenced to one year in prison. Six weeks later he died, having finally achieved fame as a painter.
TEXT 33: Alphonse Capone, 1899—1947
Al' Capone is possibly the best-known of all American gangsters, though by no means the most important. His home ground was Chicago. He was brought into the rackets by Johnny Torrio and Torrio's uncle 'Big Jim' Colosimo. Capone seized his chance when Prohibition was declared in 1920, which made the manufacture and sale of alcohol illegal in America. He soon rose to control a large part of the illegal liquor market in Chicago and the Middle West. A fierce and vicious man, he was responsible for many gangland killings, including the 1929 St. Valentine's Day Massacre, in which seven rival "bootleggers" (men selling illicit liquor) were trapped by gunmen dressed as police and machine-gunned to death. He was imprisoned in 1931 on income tax charges, became a model prisoner and was released in 1939.
TEXT 34: 'Lucky Luciano', 1897—1962
'Lucky' Luciano, so called because he led a charmed life and avoided assassination, was one of the most powerful leaders of the Mafia in the USA. Having risen to be a trusted lieutenant of Joe Masseria ('Joe the Boss'), he had him killed in 1931. This was the first step Luciano was to make in getting rid of the old guard of the Mafia, to make way for younger men like himself. In the reorganisation that followed Luciano became capo or head of one of the five New York Mafia 'Families'. He became the most powerful chieftain in the Mafia, and formed alliances with gangsters of other national groups such as the Jews and Irish-Americans. In 1936 he was sent to prison but paroled in 1945 because of his and the Mafia's secret work for the U.S. government during the Second World War. Afterwards he was deported to Italy, from where he ran the European end of the Mafia's drugs operation.
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TEXT 35: Frank Costello, 1891—1973
Known by American newspapers as 'the Prime Minister of Crime', Costello was born in Italy and came to America in 1896. Though not well educated, he had a very good brain, and rose steadily through the ranks of the Mafia until in 1936 he took over 'Lucky' Luciano's position as capo di capore, or head of all the Family heads. He avoided violence whenever possible, but was not afraid to use it where necessary. By 1943 he virtually owned New York, appointing city officials, judges and even mayors. He was jailed in 1954 on income tax charges and the resulting publicity made him less valuable to Meyer Lansky's National Crime Syndicate, and he lost much of his power. An attempt was made on his life in 1957, but he was then allowed to retire in peace.
TEXT 36: George Blake, b. 1922
Born in Holland, he was a famous traitor and Russian spy. During the Second World War, he was a member of the Dutch resistance until he escaped to England, joined the Navy and changed his name to Blake. He joined the intelligence services and was captured in Korea while serving in the British Embassy in Seoul. Blake was released in 1953 but had been secretly converted to communism while a prisoner. He then served as an agent for MI6 and as a double agent for the Russians, first in Berlin and later in Britain. In 1960 he was arrested and sentenced in 1961 to no less than forty-two years in prison. But in 1967, helped by a released fellow-prisoner, he made a daring escape from Wormwood Scrubs prison and was smuggled out to Moscow by the Russians.
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