Fredericka Mandelbaum, or Marm as she was known, was one of 150,000 Jews who left Germany and came to America in the mid-19th century hoping to escape antisemitism, restrictive laws, and poverty. When she arrived in New York City in 1850, Marm found conditions for women even worse than in Europe. Or at least for law-abiding women. Prostitution was one of the few jobs available for women in America. Marm preferred helping her husband and selling stolen goods. Although Marm started out in New York almost penniless, she died in Hamilton, Canada, in 1894 with a fortune of between $500,000 and $1 million — worth between $14 million and $20 million today. Her story is the subject of the new historical biography The Talented Mrs. Mandelbaum: The Rise and Fall of an American Organized-Crime Boss by Margalit Fox.