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Dorothy Thompson Group to Bring Grynszpan’s Parents to America

April 2, 1939
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Herschel Grynszpan, Polish Jewish youth who last November killed a German Embassy official here, expressed delight today when news reached him in his cell that the American Journalists Defense Committee headed by Dorothy Thompson had decided to bring to America his parents, who are among several thousand deportees from Germany still marooned in the Polish frontier town of Zbonszyn.

Meanwhile, official French investigators have returned from Germany where they checked young Grynszpan’s statements and studied his records. Their return concludes the investigation process, although some documents which they brought still require translation from German to French.

Grynszpan’s lawyers today predicted that his trial will not take place “for a good several months” and certainly not in May as had been previously forecast. They were pleased to learn of the plan to bring his parents out of Zbonszyn as this would enable them to testify during the trial.

Central Jewish organizations which received the American group’s request to contact the elder Grynszpans immediately transmitted the news to Warsaw, where they must apply for visas. Doubt has been expressed that the visas will be quickly granted since the Polish quota to the United States is filled for several years ahead. At the same time it is hoped that the American consul at Warsaw may consider the special circumstances of the case and grant visas to the aged couple.

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