A second autopsy was performed here today on the remains of Charles H. Jordan, the late executive vice-chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, whose body was brought from Prague to New York last night. Announcing the new autopsy, the JDC stated that laboratory tests will be made, some of them taking perhaps two weeks, before results are announced. Today’s autopsy was performed by two American pathologists, one from this city, the other from Maryland. Czech pathologists in Prague had hastily performed an autopsy there, announcing that the cause of death was drowning and saying that the body bore no evidence of violence prior to death.
Observing the work of the two pathologists here today was Dr. Alexander Gonik, head of the JDC’s medical staff at the organization’s headquarters at Geneva, Switzerland. Dr. Gonik had gone to Prague, after Mr. Jordan’s body was removed from the river there, along with Prof. Bernard Hardmeyer, director of the Legal Medical Institute at Zurich, However, these two experts had not had the opportunity of a full autopsy, being given only some tissues from the Jordan remains taken by the Czech pathologists.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
