Indeed, the "Russian mafia" is largely composed of Ukrainian Jews. From Odessa, specifically. Precisely for the reason you mention. IIRC before the Holocaust the population of Odessa was about 40% Jewish.
--- andie nachgeborenen <andie_nachgeborenen at yahoo.com> wrote:
My ancestors came to America around the turn of the last century to try to make a living (honest or not -- a number of my ancestors and more of my wife's were hoodlums) because as Jews they were persecuted and oppressed in Russia, Poland, Lithuania and Hungary. (MY own background.)
Nu, zayats, pogodi!
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