by Dwalin2014 » Fri Feb 10, 2017 10:27 pm
Sorry for bumping an old thread...But I just finally got my hands on a copy on that book that provides this information: "Addio Cosa Nostra" by Pino Arlacchi. Seems an interesting one, am currently reading it, Buscetta does indeed quote the old mafiosi about Vito Cascio Ferro in some...not exactly flattering tones, to put it mildly. What's interesting though, is where did all these legends about his importance come from? Before reading the quote from this book here, I thought he was more or less on the same level as Giuseppe Genco Russo or Calogero Vizzini in terms of importance, although there wasn't a centralized "commission" ruling the mafia back then. Literally all the books and articles I read quoted him as a boss of considerable importance, and even the Fascists seemed to believe that, since his trial was one of the few which was publicized, and the prefect Cesare Mori thought he was sending "a powerful example of his victory against the mafia" by publicly putting Cascio Ferro away for life. If he knew he really was a secondary character, he surely would have chosen somebody else to make an example of. By the way, in the Italian book "I padrini" ("The godfathers") by Giuseppe Carlo Marino (not sure if ever translated in other languages), mostly about the mafia bosses before Riina and the Corleonesi, there is a 2001 interview with Paolo Scibetta, a retired businessman from Bisacquino, 89 years old at the time (born in 1912) who still remembered something about Cascio Ferro and people back then (Cascio Ferro was sent to jail in 1930). If we believe what he says, people there literally worshiped him like all those other "godfathers" in their towns etc. He also still believes he really killed Petrosino, but "Petrosino came to Sicily to kill Cascio Ferro, so it was self-defence"
But anyway, if he was considered such a clown by everybody in the mafia, how did he gain respect in his territory? When the journalist conducting the interview asks Scibetta whether Cascio Ferro was just "feared" as a powerful criminal or really "respected and admired", Scibetta barely manages to construct a coherent sentence and just says, as if he was talking about a god: "he was really a myth, a wonderful character...oh! u 'zu Vitu! u 'zu Vitu! ("uncle Vito" in Sicilian)". So I am confused: how did he manage to wash the brains of the Bisacquino people if he was such a secondary character without respect and charisma, even on this small territory, why did no other "serious" and "real" boss take over? And, most importantly, why did so many people, including Fascist authorities, believe him to be important? And many still do, because, to be honest, if it wasn't for this book, I most likely wouldn't have learned this information at all....So thanks again for providing the quote and the title of the book. However, I have no idea where to search for additional information. For example, the name of Giuseppe Palmigiano, who Buscetta indicates as the real killer of Petrosino, I never heard this name before this topic and never managed to find anything about him anywhere since. Petrosino is considered one of the legends of the antimafia history, why is this information by Buscetta, that he was killed by the Palermo Centro family, not publicized? Theoretically it should have made headlines when he said this, even though it was a century ago, it's still a historical mystery, one of the most important ones in this subject I think.
Sorry for bumping an old thread...But I just finally got my hands on a copy on that book that provides this information: "Addio Cosa Nostra" by Pino Arlacchi. Seems an interesting one, am currently reading it, Buscetta does indeed quote the old mafiosi about Vito Cascio Ferro in some...not exactly flattering tones, to put it mildly. What's interesting though, is where did all these legends about his importance come from? Before reading the quote from this book here, I thought he was more or less on the same level as Giuseppe Genco Russo or Calogero Vizzini in terms of importance, although there wasn't a centralized "commission" ruling the mafia back then. Literally all the books and articles I read quoted him as a boss of considerable importance, and even the Fascists seemed to believe that, since his trial was one of the few which was publicized, and the prefect Cesare Mori thought he was sending "a powerful example of his victory against the mafia" by publicly putting Cascio Ferro away for life. If he knew he really was a secondary character, he surely would have chosen somebody else to make an example of. By the way, in the Italian book "I padrini" ("The godfathers") by Giuseppe Carlo Marino (not sure if ever translated in other languages), mostly about the mafia bosses before Riina and the Corleonesi, there is a 2001 interview with Paolo Scibetta, a retired businessman from Bisacquino, 89 years old at the time (born in 1912) who still remembered something about Cascio Ferro and people back then (Cascio Ferro was sent to jail in 1930). If we believe what he says, people there literally worshiped him like all those other "godfathers" in their towns etc. He also still believes he really killed Petrosino, but "Petrosino came to Sicily to kill Cascio Ferro, so it was self-defence" :lol: But anyway, if he was considered such a clown by everybody in the mafia, how did he gain respect in his territory? When the journalist conducting the interview asks Scibetta whether Cascio Ferro was just "feared" as a powerful criminal or really "respected and admired", Scibetta barely manages to construct a coherent sentence and just says, as if he was talking about a god: "he was really a myth, a wonderful character...oh! u 'zu Vitu! u 'zu Vitu! ("uncle Vito" in Sicilian)". So I am confused: how did he manage to wash the brains of the Bisacquino people if he was such a secondary character without respect and charisma, even on this small territory, why did no other "serious" and "real" boss take over? And, most importantly, why did so many people, including Fascist authorities, believe him to be important? And many still do, because, to be honest, if it wasn't for this book, I most likely wouldn't have learned this information at all....So thanks again for providing the quote and the title of the book. However, I have no idea where to search for additional information. For example, the name of Giuseppe Palmigiano, who Buscetta indicates as the real killer of Petrosino, I never heard this name before this topic and never managed to find anything about him anywhere since. Petrosino is considered one of the legends of the antimafia history, why is this information by Buscetta, that he was killed by the Palermo Centro family, not publicized? Theoretically it should have made headlines when he said this, even though it was a century ago, it's still a historical mystery, one of the most important ones in this subject I think.