Representative Samuel Dickstein, conductor of the House investigation of Nazi activities in the United States, declared Friday that he is demanding the discharge of Dr. Ignatz T. Griebl from the United States Army Reserve Corps.
“I am demanding that Dr. Griebl be dismissed from his captaincy in the Army Reserve.” Mr. Dickstein yesterday told reporters, “because he has proven himself unfit to hold the position.”
Dr. Griebl, host to Heinz Spanknoebel, Hitlerite agent to the United States who is now a fugitive from justice, has been questioned by the federal grand jury daily since charges were lodged against Spanknoebel. For the first time since the inception of the case Griebl Friday did not show up for interrogation.Mr. Dickstein stated that he is charging Griebl with using his title as United States Army Reserve Captain while being diametrically opposed to American doctrines.
The federal grand jury Friday interrogated Severin Winterscheidt, a member of the executive committee of the United German Societies, and Hans Holterbusch regarding the activities of Naz elements in New York and the disappearance of Heinz Spanknoe#el, Hitlerite agent in this country.
Joseph Goldstein, former Brooklyn magistrate, entered the federal building at the time of the hearing to protest against the attitude of Mrs. Maria Griebl, who Thursday declared she would not testify “before a Jewish district attorney or Jewish judges, nor would she swear on the Bible, which embraced the old Jewish testament.” Mr. Goldstein made representations to District Attorney George Z. Medalie and to J. Edward Lumbard, chief of the criminal division, against Nazi propaganda being transported through the mails.
Mrs. Griebl, wife of Dr. I. T. Griebl, who recently resigned as chairman of the pro-Nazi League of Friends of New Germany, was not present at Friday’s hearing.
“In reference to Spanknoebel,” Mr. Goldstein told the district attorney, “his actions indicate a desire to foment racial hatred and rioting in this city. The law should be invoked to prevent the terrible results which otherwise must result from the activities of various persons in New York who seem to be representing a foreign government and who are instilling hatred as a result of their well-defined program.
“The Jewish people are indignant because of the stupid and vituperative utterances of this woman (Mrs. Griebl) who wouldn’t swear on the Bible because it contains the Old Testament,” he said.
District Attorney Medalie replied that the Post Office Department of its own volition has been on the lookout for misuse of the mails by Nazi propagandists, but he refused to disclose whether or not violations have been detected.
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.
