The President's Commission reconvened at 2 p.m.
The CHAIRMAN. All right. Let us proceed.
(The Chairman administered the oath to Alvin I. Mills, Stenotype
Reporter.)
Mr. RANKIN. Mr. Reporter, do you have the last questions?
In the future, would you do that, so we can refresh the witness about
the last couple of questions on her testimony? I think it will make it
easier for her, if she doesn't have to try to remember all the time.
Mr. RANKIN. Mrs. Oswald, as I recall you were telling us about these
developments at Neely Street when you found that your husband was
suggesting that you go back to Russia alone and you discussed that
matter, and you thought it had something to do with the idea he had,
which I understood you have discovered as you looked back or thought
back later but didn't know at the time fully. Is that right?
Mrs. OSWALD. That is correct.
Mr. RANKIN. Could you tell us those things that you observed that
caused you to think he had something in mind at that time, and I will
ask you later, after you tell us, those that you discovered since or
that you have obtained more light on since.
Mrs. OSWALD. At that time I did not think anything about it. I had no
reasons to think that he had something in mind. I did not understand
him at that time.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the first time that you observed the rifle?
Mrs. OSWALD. That was on Neely Street. I think that was in February.
Mr. RANKIN. How did you learn about it? Did you see it some place in
the apartment?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, Lee had a small room where he spent a great deal of
time, where he read--where he kept his things, and that is where the
rifle was.
Mr. RANKIN. Was it out in the room at that time, as distinguished from
in a closet in the room?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, it was open, out in the open. At first I think--I saw
some package up on the top shelf, and I think that that was the rifle.
But I didn't know. And apparently later he assembled it and had it in
the room.
Mr. RANKIN. When you saw the rifle assembled in the room, did it have
the scope on it?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, it did not have a scope on it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you have any discussion with your husband about the
rifle when you first saw it?
Mrs. OSWALD. Of course I asked him, "What do you need a rifle for? What
do we need that for?"
He said that it would come in handy some time for hunting. And this was
not too surprising because in Russia, too, we had a rifle.
Mr. RANKIN. In Russia did you have a rifle or a shotgun?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't know the difference. One and the other shoots. You
men. That is your business.
The CHAIRMAN. My wife wouldn't know the difference, so it is all right.
Mrs. OSWALD. I have never served in the Army.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you discuss what the rifle cost with your husband?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Was the rifle later placed in a closet in the apartment at
Neely Street?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, it was always either in a corner, standing up in a
corner or on a shelf.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know what happened to the gun that you had in
Russia? Was it brought over to this country?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, he sold it there. I did not say so when I had the
first interviews. You must understand this was my husband. I didn't
want to say too much.
Mr. RANKIN. Is this rifle at Neely Street the only rifle that you know
of that your husband had after you were married to him?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ever show that rifle to the De Mohrenschildts?
Mrs. OSWALD. I know that De Mohrenschildts had said that the rifle had
been shown to him, but I don't remember that.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall your husband taking the rifle away from the
apartment on Neely Street at any time?
Mrs. OSWALD. You must know that the rifle--it isn't as if it was out in
the open. He would hang a coat or something to mask its presence in the
room. And sometimes when he walked out, when he went out in the evening
I didn't know, because I didn't go into that room very often. I don't
know whether he took it with him or not.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ever see him clean the rifle?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. I said before I had never seen it before. But I think
you understand. I want to help you, and that is why there is no reason
for concealing anything. I will not be charged with anything.
Mr. GOPADZE. She says she was not sworn in before. But now inasmuch as
she is sworn in, she is going to tell the truth.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you see him clean the rifle a number of times?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Could you help us by giving some estimate of the times as
you remember it?
Mrs. OSWALD. About four times--about four or five times, I think.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband ever tell you why he was cleaning
the--that is, that he had been using it and needed to be cleaned after
use?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I did not ask him, because I thought it was quite
normal that when you have a rifle you must clean it from time to time.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ever observe your husband taking the rifle away
from the apartment on Neely Street?
Mrs. OSWALD. Now, I think that he probably did sometimes, but I
never did see it. You must understand that sometimes I would be in
the kitchen and he would be in his room downstairs, and he would say
bye-bye, I will be back soon, and he may have taken it. He probably
did. Perhaps he purely waited for an occasion when he could take it
away without my seeing it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ever observe that the rifle had been taken out of
the apartment at Neely Street--that is, that it was gone?
Mrs. OSWALD. Before the incident with General Walker, I know that Lee
was preparing for something. He took photographs of that house and he
told me not to enter his room. I didn't know about these photographs,
but when I came into the room once in general he tried to make it
so that I would spend less time in that room. I noticed that quite
accidentally one time when I was cleaning the room he tried to take
care of it himself.
I asked him what kind of photographs are these, but he didn't say
anything to me.
Mr. RANKIN. That is the photographs of the Walker house that you were
asking about?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. Later, after he had fired, he told me about it.