Organized Crime Figure. Known as "Davie the Jew", Berman was an American mobster in Iowa, New York and Minnesota before becoming one of the pioneers of gambling alongside Bugsy Siegel at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. As a child, his family departed Russia for America and settled in South Dakota then moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he got his start as a mobster. At the age of 13, he ran a crew of teenaged thugs committing petty shakedowns and eventually a string of illegal distilleries. He then went on to run his own bank-robbing crew. After developing close ties to the Genovese crime family, he moved to Minneapolis where he operated major bookmaking operations. Persecution of his fellow Jews during World War II enraged Berman so much that he enlisted in the Canadian Army, having been previously turned away by the U.S. military as a convicted felon. After the war he returned to Minneapolis where his gambling operations were shattered during the first term of racket busting Mayor Hubert Humphrey. Berman moved his crew to Las Vegas and operated there with Moe Sedway of the Genovese Family. Almost immediately after the assassination of Bugsy Siegel, Sedway and Berman walked into the lobby of The Flamingo and announced that they were taking over the daily hotel operations. On Father's day 1957, Berman died during surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
Organized Crime Figure. Known as "Davie the Jew", Berman was an American mobster in Iowa, New York and Minnesota before becoming one of the pioneers of gambling alongside Bugsy Siegel at The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. As a child, his family departed Russia for America and settled in South Dakota then moved to Sioux City, Iowa, where he got his start as a mobster. At the age of 13, he ran a crew of teenaged thugs committing petty shakedowns and eventually a string of illegal distilleries. He then went on to run his own bank-robbing crew. After developing close ties to the Genovese crime family, he moved to Minneapolis where he operated major bookmaking operations. Persecution of his fellow Jews during World War II enraged Berman so much that he enlisted in the Canadian Army, having been previously turned away by the U.S. military as a convicted felon. After the war he returned to Minneapolis where his gambling operations were shattered during the first term of racket busting Mayor Hubert Humphrey. Berman moved his crew to Las Vegas and operated there with Moe Sedway of the Genovese Family. Almost immediately after the assassination of Bugsy Siegel, Sedway and Berman walked into the lobby of The Flamingo and announced that they were taking over the daily hotel operations. On Father's day 1957, Berman died during surgery to remove polyps from his colon.
Bio by: Louis du Mort
Family Members
Advertisement
