"One finger attached to a hand"…
Should we be digging into the Black Hand?
"Many mafiosi entered the US on false papers, which the Italian authority had been only too happy to supply. The mafiosi had good reasons to travel to America, the law and restrictions against ex-convicts in Italy were crippling. After leaving an Italian prison the convict would be placed on ‘Sorveglianza Speciale’ ( Special Surveillance ), meaning strict night curfew, no employment without permission from the police, regular reports to the local police station, ban on carrying weapons and a ban from frequenting all drinking places. Once they arrived in America they found already established Irish and Jewish underworlds, but did not penetrate these groups at first, instead keeping within their own communities.
Facing lynchings, hatred, poverty and extremely poor living conditions, the law abiding immigrants soon realized that the dream of the’ Promised Land’ they had travelled to was a nightmare. Living together in such closed communities created little more than a microcosm of the society they had left in Europe. As such they clung onto their distrust of the law and authority. Several mafiosi exploited this fact, and found opportunities for their traditional occupations, they began to extort fellow Italians who had a certain amount of money, bankers, barbers, contractors, wholesale dealers or merchants who already understood the capabilities of the Mafia. This was done anonymously by delivering threatening letters demanding money, the letters were signed with a crudely drawn Black Hand symbol.
The name ‘Black Hand’ was taken from a secret Spanish society of anarchists, that later spread to other countries, particularly The Balkans, with the purpose of assassinating monarchs and other chiefs of state.
The fear of economic and social exclusion in such a rich and dynamic country, drove many Italians to attempt their own Black Hand extortions and they also began threatening fellow Italians, helping to perpetuate the myth of ‘La Mano Nera’. This was an easy task as a strong fear was already instilled in the community, people were incredibly superstitious during this era, and even the mention of ‘La Mano Nera’ would cause people to cross themselves with the hope of protection. Italian folklore spoke of gangsters such as ‘Lupo the Wolf’ being able to cast the evil eye and to possess other magical powers, such stories only helped to compound the effectiveness of the Black Hand fear. The Black Hand thrived on this myth, and they knew the need to carry out their threats was essential to keep the fear alive.
The trail left by the Black Hand draws a picture of an unorganized body, with no central leadership or hierarchical structure. Extortion letters were written in a mixture of dialects certainly by people originating from different regions of Italy, and the Black Hand symbols varied greatly in design. Some were an open Hand, others a closed fist and others still showed a hand with a knife…"
http://mafiatoday.com/mafia-families-gangs-gangsters/mafia-gangs-early-20th-century/the-black-hand/