TWO KILLED IN HOLD-UP

Press, Volume XCIII, Issue 27986, 5 June 1956, Page 6

TWO KILLED IN HOLD-UP

■■ GUNMEN AT NEW. YORK PARTY (N.Z. Press Association—Copyright) (Rec. 10 p.m.) NEW YORK, June 2. Two masked gunmen killed .two men, one of them a Polish-language newspaper editor accused of having Communist ties, and critically wounded a third man last night. Those killed were Thomas Dombrowski, aged 46, editor of the Detroit weekly “Glos Ludowy” (people’s voice), and Frank Grodzki, aged 45, of New York. Walter Nogas, aged GO, of Newark, New Jersey, was admitted to hospital with a bullet wound in the stomach. Dombrowski’s newspaper was banned from street sale by the Detroit City Council several years ago, the council saying it was communistic. Dombrowski ran for Congress on the Communist Party ticket in 1946, but in 1952 he refused to tell the He<ise of Representatives Un-American Activities Committee whether he ever was a member of the Communist Party. Police said the deaths were the result of a bungled hold-up attempt. The two gunmen entered the quarters of the Polonia Club, in Lower Manhattan, where 30 guests, including DombrowsKi, Grodski and Nogas, were holding a party in honour of 4G Polish-Americans who recently toured Poland. The gunmen, believed to be Puerto Ricans, said: “This is a stick-up,” and directed the guests to stand against a wall. Dombrowski was killed instantly when he attempted to tear the mask from one of the men and was shot in the stomach. Firing wildly from three pistols as they tacked out of the room, the. gunmen hit Grodzki in the head twice and Nogas in the stomach.