<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>On January 7, 1959, the man who first made Cuba into an American gangster's paradise fled just a few steps ahead of the Communist revolutionaries.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meyer Lansky, born Maier Suchowljansky in 1902, emigrated to the US from the Russian Empire in 1911.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He took to the gangster's life from a young age, associating with such organised crime figures as Charles "Lucky" Luciano, Arnold Rothstein, and Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel, the latter of whom Lansky formed a bootlegging gang with during Prohibition when they were in their teens.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/danish-prime-minister-says-a-us-takeover-of-greenland-would-mark-the-end-of-nato/8d4d1089-391f-4e5d-8c17-69f7a201d793" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Danish PM says US takeover of Greenland would be the end of NATO</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lansky later moved into gambling operations, and was part of Luciano's first conferences aimed at establishing a US-wide organised crime syndicate.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Ahead of World War II, Lansky and his gang disrupted the activities and rallies of pro-Nazi US groups, at the request of a New York judge. Lanksy refused payment for this, saying that as a Jew, he was fighting for the Jews in Europe.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>During WWII, Lansky was one of the underworld figures recruited by US intelligence to fight back against fifth column saboteurs on the docks in New York.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/today-in-history-january-7-what-happened-on-this-day-meyer-lansky-flees-cuba/95bf9301-bd0e-45ef-9ff5-d9220f14b4f6" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/brain-cancer-perth-mum-dad-katie-britton-greg-britton-diagnosed-months-apart/4ce7426c-75e3-4eef-8359-d82665517558" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Aussie mum and dad both diagnosed with brain cancer months apart</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After the war, Lansky took an interest in Cuba, where Fulgencio Batista was kingmaker and kingpin, and once and future dictator.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Batista agreed to have his palms agreeably greased in exchange for letting the mob run hotels, casinos, and racetracks in the country.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lansky became what might delicately be referred to as a major investor in Cuba, building hotels and running organised crime interest on behalf of his fellows.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-find-unclaimed-money-australia/0ed2ef4c-7123-4798-88e6-1b9203a8894a" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>How Australians can claim their slice of $2.6 billion in a few minutes</span></strong></a><strong><span></span></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But Fidel Castro's revolution in the late 1950s changed everything. Castro was no friend to the mob, and on New Year's Eve of 1958, several of Lansky's plush institutions were looted and burned.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lansky decided he'd best stay ahead of the revolutionaries and fled to the Bahamas on January 7, 1959. Shortly after, Castro outlawed gambling in Cuba and imprisoned a number of organised crime figures.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>After an attempted immigration to Israel, Lansky was deported to the US on the basis of his criminal past.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He retired in Miami and died in 1983, at the age of 80.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>He was portrayed onscreen multiple times, perhaps most notably by legendary actor Lee Strasberg in </span><em><span>The Godfather: Part II</span></em><span>, in the form of Jewish Cuban-based gangster Hyman Roth.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Lansky was said to have congratulated Strasberg on his performance, for which Strasberg was nominated for an Oscar.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But, he scolded Strasberg, he could have made the character seem "more sympathetic".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></em></strong></a><strong><em><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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