Were Reggie and Ronnie Kray Jewish?

[Karl Radl]

Were Reggie and Ronnie Kray Jewish?

Reginald and Ronald Kray, better known as Reggie and Ronnie Kray or the Kray twins, are the two most famous gangsters in British history. This is largely because both, and especially so in the case of Reggie, intentionally courted fame (1) as opposed to shunning the limelight as gangsters had previously done.

They were not small-time gangster since, as Fergus Linnane points out, the Krays 'achieved local control in the East End in the 1950's before moving into the protection, drinking club and gambling rackets of the West End.' (2)

In addition it is worth noting that they expanded their criminal enterprise to the cities of Birmingham and Leicester before they were brought to book. (3) They were also heavily involved in the pornography business (4) and by the mid-1960s they ran over half of the illegal gambling dens in London. (5)

That they were involved in numerous murders, for one of which they were finally convicted, is too well known to require further comment. What I would like to point out however is that the Kray twins were also jewish.

As Linnane puts it: 'The name Kray is Austrian, and the family had Jewish, Irish and gipsy blood.' (6)

We don't know precisely from which side the jewish ancestry comes, but it may be presumed that is from one of their grandmothers as we know that their maternal grandfather, Jack 'Cannonball' Lee, was a noted street fighter, (7) while their paternal grandfather was Jimmy Kray was yet another noted street fighter. (8) Not exactly a common occupation among the jewish residents of the East End of London; therefore it seems likeliest that it was through their grandmothers that the Kray twins inherited their jewish ancestry.

We also know that their heavy drinking gambler of a father, Charles Kray, used to sell old gold (acquired by means fair and foul) to a jewish jeweler-cum-fence called Abe Sokolok in Black Lion Yard in Whitechapel every Sunday. (9) With such associations and behaviour; it is little surprise that, as his two sons were to do in regards to their national service, Charles cowardly refused to fight in the Second World War and preferred a life of crime to serving his country. (10)

Therefore while we don't know where precisely the Kray's' jewish heritage came from; we do know they were part-jewish and, as stated, quite possibly halakhically jewish (i.e. maternal ancestry being the determinant) as it is their grandmothers who are suspect in terms of being the bearers of it.

References

(1) John Pearson, 2001, 'The Cult of Violence: The Untold Story of the Krays', 1st Edition, Orion: London, p. 4
(2) Fergus Linnane, 2003, 'The Encyclopedia of London Crime & Vice', 1st Edition, Sutton: Stroud, p. 152
(3) Ibid, p. 153
(4) Fergus Linnane, 2000, 'London's Underworld: Three of Centuries of Vice and Crime', 1st Edition, Robson: London, p. 175
(5) Ibid, p. 171
(6) Ibid, p. 164
(7) Ibid, p. 165; Pearson, Op. Cit., p. 24
(8) Ibid, p. 26
(9) Ibid.
(10) Ibid, pp. 26-27

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This was originally published at the following address: http://www.semiticcontroversies.blog...ay-jewish.html