Mrs. PAINE. I may have seen him since. All these people were new to me
when I came to the party with the exception of Everett.
Mr. JENNER. Did you see the roommate the second time before or after
November 22, 1963?
Mrs. PAINE. Oh, it was before.
Mr. JENNER. But it is a fact that none of these people who were at the
party other than Mr. Glover had you seen or heard of?
Mrs. PAINE. Before.
Mr. JENNER. Up to the time that the party was held.
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. Have you exhausted your present recollection as to the
people who were present on that occasion.
Mrs. PAINE. I can't get a name. The couple were living in Irving, I
recall that, but I don't--I have forgotten their name.
Mr. JENNER. Now the Oswalds arrived shortly after the party began or at
least after you arrived?
Mrs. PAINE. I believe they came with the De Mohrenschildts.
Mr. JENNER. And you were introduced, were you?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, I was introduced.
Mr. JENNER. By whom?
Mrs. PAINE. I don't recall. It was a very informal gathering. Marina
was wearing slacks and Mrs. De Mohrenschildt also was. I doubt pains
were taken with the introductions.
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me.
Mrs. PAINE. I doubt any pains were taken with the introductions.
Mr. JENNER. How long did the party proceed?
Mrs. PAINE. It must have started something after 8 o'clock and went
until towards midnight.
Mr. JENNER. You have an interest in square dancing and that sort of
thing also. Did you do any of that then?
Mrs. PAINE. No. We talked and ate.
Mr. JENNER. Did you do any madrigal singing?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. No singing that evening?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. Now before I get to any specificity with respect to Marina
and Lee Oswald, was Russian spoken that night by anybody?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Did you speak Russian?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Who else at the party had some facility with Russian in
addition to Lee Oswald and Marina Oswald?
Mrs. PAINE. Just the De Mohrenschildts, both of them, and myself.
Mr. JENNER. And yourself. Did you mention that Mr. Glover had some
interest in the Russian language?
Mrs. PAINE. No, I don't believe he does.
Mr. JENNER. He did not, all right. Were the Oswalds really the center
of attention that evening?
Mrs. PAINE. I think so, yes, although you can't say that there was a
single center for the entire evening. It wasn't like being invited to
hear what he had to say. It was much more informal than that.
Mr. JENNER. Did you speak with Marina?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, I did.
Mr. JENNER. Did you converse with her during the course of the evening?
Mrs. PAINE. Very briefly. She spent the first part of the evening
trying to get June to go to sleep.
Mr. JENNER. June is her daughter?
Mrs. PAINE. The little girl with her.
Mr. JENNER. She brought her daughter with her did she?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes, and then we talked some in the kitchen with Mrs. De
Mohrenschildt, Marina and I.
Mr. JENNER. And what subject did you ladies pursue?
Mrs. PAINE. I really can't remember. The actual conversation with
Marina didn't cover much time at all. I saw very little of her that
evening.
Mr. JENNER. That evening?
Mrs. PAINE. That is right.
Mr. JENNER. Can you remember any subject you talked to her about in the
kitchen?
Mrs. PAINE. No.
Mr. JENNER. What subjects were discussed, I assume in the living room
or--where everybody was gathered? Do you recall what was being pursued
there in the way of conversation.
Mrs. PAINE. Part of the time Lee talked with people who were asking
him about his trip to Russia. I believe Everett had told me that he
had been, so I knew that when I arrived. And the fact that he had gone
intending to become a citizen in the Soviet Union. He talked freely and
with considerable interest in his subject to the three or four people
around him.
Mr. JENNER. Were you gathered in that group?
Mrs. PAINE. Part of the time at least I was listening to that. He spoke
of the things about the Soviet Union that had displeased him, as for
instance the censorship. He knew that it had been going on regarding
his letters.
Mr. JENNER. Mrs. Paine, when you talk in terms of conclusion, we have
a little trouble testifying. If you will give us examples such as
you just gave us about censorship, could we go back a moment to the
conversation about his going to Russia. During the course of that
subject, in questions put to him, was anything he listed as to why he
went to Russia? May I have a yes or no first?
Do you recall anything like that?
Mrs. PAINE. I can't be certain that this is when I first got an idea
about why he wanted to go or whether I learned this later.
Mr. JENNER. Does your memory serve you enough so that there is a fair
possibility that--it is important to us--was the subject discussed at
that gathering?
Mrs. PAINE. I think so.
Mr. JENNER. And that is your best recollection?
Mrs. PAINE. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Now would you give us your best recollection of what he
said or what Marina said, but primarily what Mr. Oswald said on that
subject. Why did he go to Russia?
Mrs. PAINE. I carry the impression, and I think it is recalled from
this evening----
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me. When you say you carry the impression you are
saying "It is my present recollection."
Mrs. PAINE. All right. That he spoke of himself as a Marxist that
evening, that he had read certain Marxist books and thought that the
Soviet economic system was superior to ours, and wanted to go to the
Soviet Union and live there.
Mr. JENNER. What response was elicited from others at the meeting,
agreement?
Mrs. PAINE. No; I would not say there was any agreement. People were
interested. This is an unusual thing to do. And they were interested in
hearing how he found Soviet life, what he thought of it, whether he was
pleased or disappointed.
Mr. JENNER. Would you be good enough to tell the members of the
Commission what Mr. Oswald said in those respects, to the best of your
recollection?
Mrs. PAINE. He mentioned that he was displeased with the censorship, or
at least he commented on it in a way that I took as unfavorable.
Mr. JENNER. Thank you, Ma'am.