Who popped Dr. Martin Gunzel on the nose?
This became a burning question in the minds of many yesterday as various Germans who attended the tenth annual banquet of the Board of Trade for German American Commerce aboard the swastika bedecked liner Deutschland Saturday night essayed to answer the question with many divergent opinions.
The best substantiated reports given this paper by one who received a first-hand account of the affair pointed out that Gunzel failed to join the Hitler “heiling” when some Nazis suggested three rousing cheers for the German fuehrer–an omission which resulted in a complete set of facial bruises and a decidedly warped “Aryan” nose for Gunzel.
GET AWAY FROM MY DOOR
The battered head of the “heilless” guest rested on soft pillows all day Sunday, but yesterday Gunzel, an importer, marched proudly off to work. His right eye, it was said, was in mourning in commemoration of the Saturday night affair.
Gunzel yesterday refused to receive early reporters. His wife, a buxom “Aryan” blonde, did likewise throughout the day. Frau Gunzel greeted all reporters yesterday with the stock phrase, “Ve don’t have nodding to say.” At time the phrase issued through the closed door of the Gunzel apartment, at other times it was bawled through a small crack in the door, and on occasion Frau Gunzel opened wide the portal to make the announcement and then hastily closed the door.
The following, who attended the banquet aboard the liner, had this to say about the Gunzel mishap:
GRIEBL TESTIFIES
Dr. I. T. Griebl, former president of the Hitlerite group, League of Friends of New Germany as well as friend of and host to Heinz Spanknoebel, phantom Nazi chieftain who is now a fugitive from justice: “I attended the banquet along with three or four hundred others. About three o’clock, Sunday morning, two Germans got into an argument. When the fight was finished I was called in as a physician.
“Gunzel’s nose was bleeding and he had a number of bruises about the head. I saw my duty, and I did it. As a physician I treated the injured man. I didn’t see what happened or the man who hit him, and I didn’t want to hear who did it or why he did it. I drove Gunzel to his apartment in my car.”
ST. PATRICK’S FOR GERMANS
General Herman A. Metz, president of the Board of Trade for German American Commerce: “The fight, as I learned about it from those who saw it, took place on deck. It was St. Patrick’s night, and I contend that Germans have as much right to fight as the Irish. The reason for fisticuffs lies in one man’s calling the other a damn fool. Both Gunzel and the other fellow drank a little too much, and when they finished pounding each other they drove off in a cab.”
John Pannes, traffic manager of the Hamburg American Line: “The commander of the ship said that about five in the morning one of the ship’s officers separated Gunzel and another man who were fighting on the boat deck. Both were American citizens. To my knowledge the fight was not caused by Gunzel’s failing to salute Hitler.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.