Did You Know Who Cared for Al Capone in Prison

Got here after stumbling upon "Escape from Alcatraz" by Bruce Campbell.

Upon his arrival at Atlanta, Capone was officially diagnosed with syphilis and gonorrhoea. He was also experiencing withdrawal symptoms from cocaine addiction, the use of which had perforated his nasal septum. Capone was competent at his prison job of stitching soles on shoes for eight hours a day, but his letters were barely coherent. He was seen as a weak personality, and so out of his depth dealing with bullying at the hands of fellow inmates that his cellmate, seasoned convict Red Rudensky, feared that Capone would have a breakdown. Rudensky was formerly a small-time criminal associated with the Capone gang and found himself becoming a protector for Capone.

Morris "Red" (also "Rusty") Rudensky (born Macy Motle Friedman; August 16, 1898 – April 21, 1988) was an American prohibition-era gangster, cat burglar and safe-cracker. While incarcerated at United States Penitentiary, Atlanta, Rudensky became a well-known writer for an inmate-run magazine called The Atlantian. Following his release from prison, he became a spokesman and security consultant for several companies, and wrote a memoir titled The Gonif.

Born to a Jewish family on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Rudensky began his career by stealing bagels. At age 13 he was deemed incorrigible and sent to the Elmira State Reformatory. He escaped to make his way to Chicago where he cracked safes for the best price. He claimed to work for Al Capone's Chicago Outfit, Bugs Moran's North Side Mob, and The Purple Gang, a group of Jewish mobsters based in Detroit.