Often overlooked in Second World War accounts of devastated cities, Naples was in ruins when the Allies liberated it. The city had 200,000 homeless, no power, transport, food, or water. While the Allies quickly provided aid, the influx of troops and supplies fueled a massive black market involving most of the population. With widespread poverty, a third of women turned to prostitution, transforming Naples into a city of vice, crime, and chaos where theft and sale of anything became commonplace. Surprisingly, the Americans appointed Italo-American criminals to positions of power in southern Italy, including Vito Genovese, a New York gangster fleeing a murder charge. Genovese then built a criminal empire in Naples, effectively reintroducing organized crime to Italy after Mussolini had suppressed it.

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