The 1930's In The United States

What Will You Do for Cash

The 1930’s in the United States were difficult for not just the economy but also the people who lived through it. In the ‘30s The Great Depression was in full swing and unemployment was hovering at about 25% at its peak in 1933. Also at its height in 1933, roughly 13 million American’s were unemployed and struggling to not only take care of themselves but also, many had families to take care of as well.

1938 was just one year prior to the end of The Great Depression, which ended in 1939. Jobs were scarce, and many were left homeless or hungry. According to History.com, the President at the time was Franklin D. Roosevelt and by 1938 he had created “The New Deal” which created a work a “Work Progress Administration”

Unfortunately, that fate comes all too often and in the Spring of 1938, this fear became a reality for the Levine family. On February 24th, a twelve-year old boy, Peter Levine was walking home from school and decided to stop at the local candy shop. That was the last time Peter was seen alive. Peter’s father was a well-known lawyer and his mother was a former journalist. Even though the American citizens were starving and homeless, the more prestigious of society, such as lawyers, were better off

Levine received a phone call stating that she needed to go pick up a note that was stuck underneath a door on 5th Avenue. The note stated that the kidnappers wanted 60,000 dollars of ransom money for Peter. The kidnappers used two reverends to be the go-in-betweens for their ransom money (The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y..19). Police used what evidence they had and came up with the fact that the ransom note had been written on a toy typewriter.

The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y., also stated the after a few days of the local police departments attempts to figure out who was the kidnappers, the F.B.I finally stepped in a brought a lot of man power with them (The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y.,19). Every business and organization got involved with the search for Peter Levine’s body and kidnappers. Law enforcement had an array of suspects.

Among the many suspects that were to have been thought to have committed this crime, were these two suspects by the names of Edward Penn and Werner Fredrick Luck. Edward Penn was an 18-year-old, high school senior at Pelham High School. Werner Fredrick Luck was a 23-year-old, ice cream salesman in the town of Rochelle (The Herald Statesman, Yonkers, N.Y.,19). These two were later found to be working together in trying to de-fraud the Levine family. Evidence proved that the two were the ones who created the ransom note demanding 60,000 dollars from the Levine’s for the safety of their son