Whitechapel is a district in the East End of London. Whitechapel is named after a chapel of ease dedicated to St. Mary; this church was destroyed during World War II. Whitechapel had grown into a suburb of London by the late 16th century, and it attracted the less fragrant activities of the city as its "other half"; key industries included tanneries, breweries, foundries, and slaughterhouses. By the 1840s, Whitechapel had been plagued with poverty and overcrowding, and the warrens of small dark streets branching from Whitechapel Road contained the greatest suffering, filth, and danger of the district. Due to the influence of the Blighters gang in the 1860s, the district was plagued with gang violence, but this was toned down after the Rooks conquered Whitechapel from Rexford Kaylock's gang. The juxtaposition of the poverty, homelessness, exploitive work conditions, prostitution, and infant mortality of Whitechapel and other East End locales with some of the greatest personal wealth the world has ever seen made it a focal point for leftist reformers and revolutionaries of all kinds, from George Bernard Shaw, whose Fabian Society met regularly in Whitechapel, to Vladimir Lenin, who led rallies in Whitechapel during his exile from Russia. By the 1880s, Whitechapel was overcrowded, crime-ridden, and destitute, and it was home to a large immigrant community (especially Eastern European Jewish refugees). The 1888-1891 "Jack the Ripper" murder spree drew international attention to the plight of Whitechapel's underprivileged residents, and, by the early 1900s, most of the neighborhood's slums were demolished. Whitechapel remained poor into the first half of the 20th century, and it was heavily damaged by German bombing raids and rocket attacks during World War II. After the war, Whitechapel lost most of its notoriety, but, due to its proximity to the Docklands, it is still a popular place for immigrants (especially the Jewish community of the 19th and early 20th centuries) and the working class. In the later half of the 20th century, a large Bangladeshi community developed along Whitechapel Road and Brick Lane.
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