After testifying before the federal grand jury yesterday, Mrs. Maria Griebl, wife of Dr. I. T. Griebl, who is being questioned by the district attorney on Nazi activities, arrogantly refused to be grilled further by “Jewish judges and a Jewish district attorney.”
“I refuse to swear on the Bible, which is based upon the old Jewish Testament,” she declared. “But I shall be glad to take my oath to the American flag.
“Moreover,” she said, “I consider District Attorney George Z. Medalie a member of the Jewish race, and under existing circumstances I do not believe he can be tolerant in his conclusions. I am asking for a neutral district attorney or judge, preferably Christian.
“This is not politics but general Jeffersonian tolerance and justice,” Mrs. Griebl concluded.
When informed that Assistant United States Attorney Wm. W. Prager, who questioned her at yesterday’s session, was a Jew, Mrs. Griebl declared: “I shall refuse to testify before him tomorrow if I am called upon.”
Mrs. Griebl, Dr. Griebl, and Miss Rose Fischer, a maid in the Griebl home, were called before the jury during the hearing to give information regarding the residence and activities of Heinz Spanknoebel, who disappeared last week upon learning that a warrant had been issued for his arrest.
Severin Winterscheidt, member of the executive committee of the United German Societies, was also called before the jury to testify to the activities of Spanknoebel, whose whereabouts continues to remain a mystery.
Mrs. Griebl, who was hostess to the Nazi leader during his stay in New York, said that Spanknoebel was ordered from her home at 56 East 87th Street, when he reported that a warrant had been issued for his arrest. She said that she believed Spanknoebel to be in Canada.
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.
