Prohibition in Hamtramck: Gangsters, Gunfights & Getaways (American Palate) by Kowalski Greg

Author:Kowalski, Greg [Kowalski, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing Inc.
Published: 2015-10-05T04:00:00+00:00

Hamtramck State Bank stood nearly across the street from the old village hall, which housed the police station. A robbery-murder committed there shook the community.

Several Poles were approached to run against Jezewski, but all refused. Finally, they turned to Majewski. “They insisted” he run, he said. “I never wanted to be mayor. I was forced into it.” Even so, Majewski took to the campaign trail on the familiar platform of cleaning up the town. Running for office at that time could be grueling. Politics was played with a heavy hand. Dozens of rallies were held at the numerous halls in town where arguments were frequent and no one held back on attacking any candidate publicly. Take the case of Judge Walter Phillips who was running for office. He didn’t speak Polish and was booed off the stage at a rally by members of the audience for delivering his address in English. The Detroit newspapers made much of this, even questioning the patriotism of the attackers. After all, wasn’t English the language of America? Actually, it wasn’t—or at least it wasn’t the only language, as attested to by the millions of immigrants who spoke a host of languages. And the immigrants spoke loudly, especially at political rallies.

They didn’t hold back their feelings after the vote either. If you lost an election, you might find your name prominently attached to a casket in a hearse that would be paraded up and down Jos. Campau Avenue. We often cringe at campaigning tactics today, but they are wimpy in comparison to the democracy in action in this period.

Majewski did speak Polish, and he defeated Jezewski in the 1926 election. Jezewski was carted off to Leavenworth anyway, although he wasn’t about to give up political control. Majewski learned that quickly when he took over the reins as mayor. All the common council members still were loyal to Jezewski. “The whole council was against me,” Majewski said. “Every one of them.” They were still taking their orders from Jezewski in Leavenworth.

Although Majewski was a lawyer, his real devotion was engineering. Consequently, he wanted to be a builder of Hamtramck. He wanted to create a new recreation center. At this point, the city did not have a recreation department. What recreation was available was provided by the school district. He also wanted to build a viaduct, which actually did come about. That went in place on Jos. Campau not far from where Munchinger’s saloon stood. It was desperately needed because of the railroad tracks just north of the Dodge Main factory. It wasn’t unusual for workers rushing to the job to hop between the moving freight cars or even crawl under them as they blocked traffic on Jos. Campau. A number of workers were squashed in the process. The viaduct ended that when it opened amid much fanfare in 1927. But even that achievement was not done just with local support. Majewski had helped Governor Fred Green win the election, and Green repaid the favor with support for the viaduct.

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