This is just a quick story from my life, which I think should give some idea to anyone who struggles for proof of the ideals of family and omerta.

I have family who live in Italy and my aunt is actually Italian. Her and my Uncle are both authors and they are quite big in Italy at the moment for their novels, but their particular interest is on true crime. As part of this, they've recently decided (for what reason I'm not quite sure) to teach creative writing to inmates in a high-security prison in Spoleto, Italy. As you can imagine, given the Mafia influence within Italy, still to this day, they encounter numerous Gangsters and individuals who were involved in organized crime at one point in their lives. They teach 10ish students and the level some of these men held within the Mafia makes me wonder about their sanity in becoming involved with them, but they love it.

Anyway, they recently told me a story where they were running the creative writing course and as part of this they asked the men to go away and write down a story for the next session. They maintain a blog on their website, which describes it better that I could. Here is the extract:

We suggested that they should use their own experiences as the basis of a story, but one of the inmates 'Girolamo' immediately comes up with a puzzler. "What's the good of crying over your life story?" he asks. "Who wants to know what I've done?" Daniela responds like a shot. "Everyone!" she fires back. "Why do people read? They are curious and want to learn. You know things that they don't know. The more explicit and factual, the better it will be. Name names..." She means that you need to create a believable context for your story, but everyone in the room takes her literally. "Name names?" Carmelo laughs out loud. "We'd be dead inside five minutes!" But suddenly the lid is off, and we start to talk about a very real two-edged problem. One side of the blade is personal; the other cutting-edge is literary. The personal aspect, as Giovanni tells it, goes something like this. "I have been inside for over twenty years," he says. He is forty-one. "They'll carry me out of here in a wooden box. But I could get out tomorrow." "How?" I ask. "By naming names," he says. "But I would never betray my friends."

The point of this tale is that whilst we get caught up in the glamour side that we see portrayed in the films, we forget that these people still exist and operate. Many men like Girolamo and Giovanni (who was actually a Boss of Sacra Corona Unita they later found out, who was only allowed to leave his cell for this and nothing else) are still in prison because of the deep loyalty that was bred into these men. This is what it meant to be part of the Mafia and what was expected of made men. In Italy life is not 25 years either, a life sentence is just that, the rest of your life until you die. I wonder if we really appreciate just how significant it was to become Made?

As an aside, some of the other stories they have to tell about these guys and the crimes they committed, with Giovanni recounting his first robbery at the age of four for example, are extremely interesting for anyone with an interest in the Mafia and chilling at the same time.

~T~

It appears to have chewed up the format there, but you can still get the message I hope.

~T~

Very interesting. You're right though, we do tend to forget that this still goes on today. It just doesn't have the glam appeal of the times of old.

"I have been inside for over twenty years," he says. He is forty-one. "They'll carry me out of here in a wooden box. But I could get out tomorrow." "How?" I ask. "By naming names," he says. "But I would never betray my friends."

Point well made too.

The reality of all this is astounding. Day in and out we come here and roleplay a world based on the Mafia. 1920-40's era mostly. When to this day, people are living through it. These people in prison are serving time sometimes because they will not give up names as Tallien's story stated. The loyalty there is simply amazing.

I'm glad you came out here to share this, Tallien. Your Aunt and Uncle must have tons of stories from teaching there. It would be very interesting to hear more of these.

It is stories like this that shock me so much when I here that the sacred code of Omerta was actually broken by quite a few individuals. I think that was in New York though, so perhaps the ties there are not as strong.

The reason Omerta became such a 'breakable' vow and throwaway concept in the states was down to the introduction of narcotics into the organised crime scene. The profits that came with them was too enticing to ignore, but the sentences that came with them were long enough to question a mobster's loyalty.

This was never an issue in Sicily/Italy, because as Tallien points out - life is life over there, so nothing changed. Although my knowledge of organised crime in Europe is nowhere near that of my Stateside knowledge; there has never been (as far as I know) a high profile case of omerta-breaking in Sicily. I could be wrong though.

Absolutely fascinating account though, it really interests me that organised crime is still 'popular' - I'd love to hear whether it is simply down to a 'like father like son' scenario, or whether these criminals still choose the path because they share the same sense of distrust in the law and establishment as their original forebears did when they pioneered the mafia as we know it back in the late 19th/early 20th century

he reason i love the mob based games is that i truly respect the mob and there code

Loyalty is the key and there is only a few things that anyone can get out of me i was born to serve and follow i am the perfect soldier but life has thrown rocks at me and took away the opertunety to be in the army  and organised crime is not that common here in estonia

Good story! I enjoyed the whole thing.

On the other hand, I know people here in the states who are in jail for not ratting out a friend.  In the states we call them minorites or thugs.  Where's the praise for my homies?? lol

Brilliant story, I loved reading it. I really enjoyed that he wouldnt give names, you dont hear about that kind of loyalty very often.

Very intresting and a great read, I'm not sure if everyone heard the story on the new in America it was on the news in the UK about a guy who won the euro millions some crazy amount like 130 million and he lived in Italy. The Italian mafia then found out who had the winning ticket and are now extoring him for 30 or 60 million I'm not 100% on the figures. I rememberd watching it thinking that when people including myself think of the mafia they think of the old days and such but that brought it back to me that they are very much a massive influence today.

Good story,i enjoyed reading it.

I think it's worth noting to those people who respect and even admire the loyalty of these criminals that they are indeed just that; criminals. The people they're protecting are, in turn, criminals. They kill, steal, harm, break laws, etc. Just as Rufus mentioned, they're extorting a guy for millions.

If your child was killed, and a friend of the killer was known, but this friend will not name the killer, would you admire his loyalty? No. You'd think he's a cunt for protecting the murderer of your daughter.

Unconditional loyalty is not good. The right kind of loyalty is good. Are Nazi sympathisers good for being loyal to their cause? No, because their cause is not good. And so their loyalty is not good.

As much as Awesome has a point, I do have a tender spot in my heart for proper criminals. In my city Hell's Angels are big here. Very big, do I have a problem with them? Not at all. They do their thing, they have a commodity people want. As long as you don't fuck them over they won't fuck you over. Most of the mobs(I'd like to think) are the same way. Standing up for what you believe in is a lost art. Not even involving omerta or criminal activities. The rise of the revolutionists are long gone yet their is so much to fight for. As bad as it is to say people really should look up to people who are willing to give up their freedoms so that others can go on.

Big Probs to your aunt and uncle for doing that Tallien. Truly great work.

I do see awesomes point but i still agree the rest of us and congrad to your aunt and uncle

The Italian Mob will NEVER EVER go away. Just like Illegal drugs never will. Just saying.