Mrs. OSWALD. Excuse me. They did ask him about whether the Russians had
proposed that he be an agent for them.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you what he said to them in that regard?
Mrs. OSWALD. He told me that he had answered no.
Mr. RANKIN. After this interview by the FBI agents, do you recall any
later interview with them and yourself or your husband before you went
to New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, there were no other interviews.
The next time was in Irving, when I lived with Mrs. Paine. But that is
after I returned from New Orleans.
Mr. RANKIN. At New Orleans, who did your husband work for?
Mrs. OSWALD. He worked for the Louisiana Coffee Co. But I don't know in
what capacity. I don't think that this was very good job, or perhaps
more correctly, he did not--I know that he didn't like this job.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know what he received in pay from that job?
Mrs. OSWALD. $1.35 an hour, I think. I am not sure.
Mr. RANKIN. How long did he work for this coffee company?
Mrs. OSWALD. I think it was from May until August, to the end of August.
Mr. RANKIN. Was he discharged?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And then was he unemployed for a time?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. After you had discussed with your husband your going to
Russia, was anything done about that?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I wrote a letter to the Soviet Embassy with a request
to be permitted to return. And then it seems to me after I was already
in New Orleans, I wrote another letter in which I told the Embassy that
my husband wants to return with me.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall the date of the first letter that you just
referred to?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. But that is easily determined.
Mr. RANKIN. Were you asking for a visa to return to Russia?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you discuss with your husband his returning with you
before you wrote the second letter that you have described?
Mrs. OSWALD. I didn't ask him. He asked me to do so one day when he
was extremely upset. He appeared to be very unhappy and he said that
nothing keeps him here, and that he would not lose anything if he
returned to the Soviet Union, and that he wants to be with me. And that
it would be better to have less but not to be concerned about tomorrow,
not to be worried about tomorrow.
Mr. RANKIN. Was this a change in his attitude?
Mrs. OSWALD. Towards me or towards Russia?
Mr. RANKIN. Towards going to Russia.
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't think that he was too fond of Russia, but simply
that he knew that he would have work assured him there, because he
had--after all, he had to think about his family.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you know that he did get a passport?
Mrs. OSWALD. It seems to me he always had a passport.
Mr. RANKIN. While he was in New Orleans, that he got a passport?
Mrs. OSWALD. Well, it seems to me that after we came here, he
immediately received a passport. I don't know. I always saw his green
passport. He even had two--one that had expired, and a new one.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know when the new one was issued?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. It seems to me in the Embassy when we arrived. I don't
know.
But please understand me correctly, I am not hiding this. I simply
don't know.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know about a letter from your husband to the Embassy
asking that his request for a visa be considered separately from yours?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I don't.
Mr. RANKIN. When you were at New Orleans, did your husband go to
school, that you knew of?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he spend his earnings with you and your child?
Mrs. OSWALD. Most of the time, yes. But I know that he became active
with some kind of activity in a pro-Cuban committee. I hope that is
what you are looking for.
Mr. RANKIN. When did you first notice the rifle at New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. As soon as I arrived in New Orleans.
Mr. RANKIN. Where was it kept there?
Mrs. OSWALD. He again had a closet-like room with his things in it. He
had his clothes hanging there, all his other belongings.
Mr. RANKIN. Was the rifle in a cover there?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you notice him take it away from your home there in New
Orleans at any time?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. I know for sure that he didn't. But I know that we had
a kind of a porch with a--screened-in porch, and I know that sometimes
evenings after dark he would sit there with his rifle. I don't know
what he did with it. I came there by chance once and saw him just
sitting there with his rifle. I thought he is merely sitting there and
resting. Of course I didn't like these kind of little jokes.
Mr. RANKIN. Can you give us an idea of how often this happened that you
recall?
Mrs. OSWALD. It began to happen quite frequently after he was arrested
there in connection with some demonstration and handing out of leaflets.
Mr. RANKIN. Was that the Fair Play for Cuba demonstration?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. From what you observed about his having the rifle on the
back porch, in the dark, could you tell whether or not he was trying to
practice with the telescopic lens?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. I asked him why. But this time he was preparing to go
to Cuba.
Mr. RANKIN. That was his explanation for practicing with the rifle?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. He said that he would go to Cuba. I told him I was
not going with him--that I would stay here.
Mr. RANKIN. On these occasions when he was practicing with the rifle,
would they be three or four times a week in the evening, after the Fair
Play for Cuba incident?
Mrs. OSWALD. Almost every evening. He very much wanted to go to Cuba
and have the newspapers write that somebody had kidnapped an aircraft.
And I asked him "For God sakes, don't do such a thing."
Mr. RANKIN. Did he describe that idea to you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And when he told you of it, did he indicate that he wanted
to be the one that would kidnap the airplane himself?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, he wanted to do that. And he asked me that I should
help him with that. But I told him I would not touch that rifle.
This sounds very merry, but I am very much ashamed of it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you tell him that using the rifle in this way, talking
about it, was not in accordance with his agreement with you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say about that?
Mrs. OSWALD. He said that everything would go well. He was very
self-reliant--if I didn't want to.
Mr. RANKIN. Was there any talk of divorce during this period?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. During this time, we got along pretty well not
counting the incidents with Cuba. I say relatively well, because we did
not really have--generally he helped me quite a bit and was good to me.
But, of course, I did not agree with his views.
Mr. RANKIN. At this time in New Orleans did he discuss with you his
views?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say about that?
Mrs. OSWALD. Mostly--most of the conversations were on the subject of
Cuba.
Mr. RANKIN. Was there anything said about the United States--not liking
the United States.
Mrs. OSWALD. No. I can't say--he liked some things in Russia, he liked
some other things here, didn't like some things there, and didn't like
some things here.
And I am convinced that as much as he knew about Cuba, all he knew was
from books and so on. He wanted to convince himself. But I am sure that
if he had gone there, he would not have liked it there, either. Only on
the moon, perhaps.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you what he didn't like about the United States?
Mrs. OSWALD. First of all, he didn't like the fact that there are
fascist organizations here. That was one thing.
The second thing, that it was hard to get an education and hard to find
work. And that medical expenses were very high.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say who he blamed for this?
Mrs. OSWALD. He didn't blame anyone.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he ever say anything about President Kennedy?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. At least--I was always interested in President Kennedy
and had asked him many times to translate articles in a newspaper or
magazine for me, and he always had something good to say. He translated
it, but never did comment on it. At least in Lee's behavior--from
Lee's behavior I cannot conclude that he was against the President,
and therefore the thing is incomprehensible to me. Perhaps he hid it
from me. I don't know. He said that after 20 years he would be prime
minister. I think that he had a sick imagination--at least at that time
I already considered him to be not quite normal--not always, but at
times. I always tried to point out to him that he was a man like any
others who were around us. But he simply could not understand that.
I tried to tell him that it would be better to direct his energies to
some more practical matters, and not something like that.
Mr. RANKIN. Can you tell us what you observed about him that caused you
to think he was different?
Mrs. OSWALD. At least his imagination, his fantasy, which was quite
unfounded, as to the fact that he was an outstanding man. And then
the fact that he was very much interested, exceedingly so, in
autobiographical works of outstanding statesmen of the United States
and others.
Mr. RANKIN. Was there anything else of that kind that caused you to
think that he was different?
Mrs. OSWALD. I think that he compared himself to these people whose
autobiographies he read. That seems strange to me, because it is
necessary to have an education in order to achieve success of that
kind. After he became busy with his pro-Cuban activity, he received a
letter from somebody in New York, some Communist--probably from New
York--I am not sure from where--from some Communist leader and he was
very happy, he felt that this was a great man that he had received the
letter from.
You see, when I would make fun of him, of his activity to some extent,
in the sense that it didn't help anyone really, he said that I didn't
understand him, and here, you see, was proof that someone else did,
that there were people who understood his activity.
I would say that to Lee--that Lee could not really do much for Cuba,
that Cuba would get along well without him, if they had to.
Mr. RANKIN. You would tell that to him?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And what would he say in return?
Mrs. OSWALD. He shrugged his shoulders and kept his own opinion. He was
even interested in the airplane schedules, with the idea of kidnapping
a plane. But I talked him out of it.
Mr. RANKIN. The airplane schedules from New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. New Orleans--but--from New Orleans--leaving New Orleans in
an opposite direction. And he was going to make it turn around and go
to Cuba.
Mr. RANKIN. He discussed this with you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. When did his Fair Play for Cuba activity occur--before or
after he lost his job?
Mrs. OSWALD. After he lost his job. I told him it would be much better
if he were working, because when he didn't work he was busy with such
foolishness.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say about that?
Mrs. OSWALD. Nothing. And it is at that time that I wrote a letter to
Mrs. Paine telling her that Lee was out of work, and they invited me to
come and stay with her. And when I left her, I knew that Lee would go
to Mexico City. But, of course, I didn't tell Mrs. Paine about it.
Mr. RANKIN. Had he discussed with you the idea of going to Mexico City?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. When did he first discuss that?
Mrs. OSWALD. I think it was in August.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you why he wanted to go to Mexico City?
Mrs. OSWALD. From Mexico City he wanted to go to Cuba--perhaps through
the Russian Embassy in Mexico somehow he would be able to get to Cuba.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say anything about going to Russia by way of Cuba?
Mrs. OSWALD. I know that he said that in the embassy. But he only said
so. I know that he had no intention of going to Russia then.
Mr. RANKIN. How do you know that?
Mrs. OSWALD. He told me. I know Lee fairly well--well enough from that
point of view.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you that he was going to Cuba and send you on
to Russia?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, he proposed that after he got to Cuba, that I would go
there, too, somehow.
But he also said that after he was in Cuba, and if he might go to
Russia, he would let me know in any case.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he discuss Castro and the Cuban Government with you?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. When did he start to do that?
Mrs. OSWALD. At the time that he was busy with that pro-Cuban activity.
He was sympathetic to Castro while in Russia, and I have also a good
opinion of Castro to the extent that I know. I don't know anything bad
about him.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say about Castro to you?
Mrs. OSWALD. He said that he is a very smart statesman, very useful for
his government, and very active.
Mr. RANKIN. What did you say to him?
Mrs. OSWALD. I said, "Maybe." It doesn't make any difference to me.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you know he was writing to the Fair Play for Cuba
organization in New York during this latter period in New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he show you that correspondence?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. How did you learn that?
Mrs. OSWALD. He told me about it. Or, more correctly, I saw that he was
writing to them.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you write the Russian Embassy in regard to your visa
from New Orleans.
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall what address you gave in New Orleans when you
wrote?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I don't remember. Sometimes I would write a letter,
but Lee would insert the address and would mail the letters. That is
why I don't remember.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you get your mail in New Orleans at your apartment or
at a post office box?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, we had a post office box, and that is where we
received our mail.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband have any organization in his Fair Play for
Cuba at New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, he had no organization. He was alone. He was quite
alone.
Mr. RANKIN. When did you learn about his arrest there?
Mrs. OSWALD. The next day, when he was away from home overnight and
returned, he told me he had been arrested.
Mr. RANKIN. What did he say about it?
Mrs. OSWALD. He was smiling, but in my opinion he was upset. I think
that after that occurrence--he became less active, he cooled off a
little.
Mr. RANKIN. Less active in the Fair Play for Cuba?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. He continued it, but more for a person's sake. I
think that his heart was no longer in it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you that the FBI had seen him at the jail in
New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he complain about his arrest and say it was unfair,
anything of that kind.
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you know he paid a fine?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you have anything to do with trying to get him out of
jail?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
He was only there for 24 hours. He paid his fine and left. He said that
the policeman who talked to him was very kind, and was a very good
person.
Mr. RANKIN. While you were in New Orleans, did you get to know the
Murrets?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. They are his relatives. I think that Lee engaged in
this activity primarily for purposes of self-advertising. He wanted to
be arrested. I think he wanted to get into the newspapers, so that he
would be known.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you think he wanted to be advertised and known as being
in support of Cuba before he went to Cuba?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you think he thought that would help him when he got to
Cuba?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you anything about that, or is that just what
you guess?
Mrs. OSWALD. He would collect the newspaper clippings about his--when
the newspapers wrote about him, and he took these clippings with him
when he went to Mexico.
Mr. RANKIN. Did the Murrets come to visit you from time to time in New
Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes--sometimes they came to us, and sometimes we went to
them.
Mr. RANKIN. Was that a friendly relationship?
Mrs. OSWALD. I would say that they were more of a family relationship
type. They were very good to us. His uncle, that is the husband of
his aunt, was a very good man. He tried to reason with Lee after that
incident. Lee liked them very much as relatives but he didn't like the
fact that they were all very religious.
When his uncle, or, again, the husband of his aunt would tell him that
he must approach things with a more serious attitude, and to worry
about himself and his family, Lee would say, "Well, these are just
bourgeois, who are only concerned with their own individual welfare."
Mr. KRIMER. The word Mrs. Oswald used is not quite bourgeois, but it is
a person of a very narrow viewpoint who is only concerned with his own
personal interests, inclined to be an egotist.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you hear the discussion when the uncle talked about
this Fair Play for Cuba and his activities?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. What did the uncle say to your husband about that?
Mrs. OSWALD. At that time. I did not know English too well, and Lee
would not interpret for me. He only nodded his head. But I knew that
he did not agree with his uncle. His uncle said that he condemned that
kind of activity.
Mr. RANKIN. What was your husband's attitude about your learning
English?
Mrs. OSWALD. He never talked English to me at home, and did not give me
any instruction. This was strictly my own business. But he did want me
to learn English. But that was my own concern. I had to do that myself
somehow. That is the truth.
Mr. RANKIN. Did any of your Russian friends visit you at New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Outside of the Murrets, were there some people from New
Orleans that visited you at your home in New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. Once or twice a woman visited who was a friend of Ruth
Paine's. Ruth Paine has written her. She had written to Ruth Paine to
find out whether she knew any Russians there. And once or twice this
woman visited us. But other than that, no one.
Mr. RANKIN. What was the name of this woman?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't remember. I only remember that her first name is
also Ruth.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband have friends of his that visited you there
at New Orleans?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, never.
Once some time after Lee was arrested, on a Saturday or a Sunday
morning, a man came early and questioned Lee about the activity of the
allegedly existing organization, which really did not exist. Because
in the newspaper accounts Lee was described as a member and even the
leader of that organization, which in reality did not exist at all.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know who that was?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I don't. I asked Lee who that was, and he said that
is probably some anti-Cuban, or perhaps an FBI agent. He represented
himself as a man who was sympathetic to Cuba but Lee did not believe
him.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband ever tell you what he told the FBI agent
when they came to the jail to see him?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. After you wrote Mrs. Paine, did she come at once in
response to your letter to take you back to Dallas?
Mrs. OSWALD. Not quite at once. She came about a month later. She
apparently was on vacation at that time, and said that she would come
after her vacation.
Mr. RANKIN. Didn't she indicate that she was going to come around
September 30, and then came a little before that?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. In her letter to me she indicated that she would come
either the 20th or the 21st of September, and she did come at that time.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you move your household goods in her station wagon at
that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know whether or not the rifle was carried in the
station wagon?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, it was.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you have anything to do with loading it in there?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. Lee was loading everything on because I was pregnant
at the time. But I know that Lee loaded the rifle on.
Mr. RANKIN. Was the rifle carried in some kind of a case when you went
back with Mrs. Paine?
Mrs. OSWALD. After we arrived. I tried to put the bed, the child's crib
together, the metallic parts, and I looked for a certain part, and I
came upon something wrapped in a blanket. I thought that was part of
the bed, but it turned out to be the rifle.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you remember whether the pistol was carried back in Mrs.
Paine's car too?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't know where the pistol was.
Mr. RANKIN. Before you went back to Mrs. Paine's house, did you discuss
whether you would be paying her anything for board and room?
Mrs. OSWALD. She proposed that I again live with her on the same
conditions as before. Because this was more advantageous for her than
to pay a school. She received better instruction that way.
In any case, she didn't spend any extra money for me--she didn't spend
any more than she usually spent.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you give her lessons in Russian?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, these were not quite lessons. It was more in the
nature of conversational practice. And then I also helped her to
prepare Russian lessons for the purpose of teaching Russian.
Mr. RANKIN. When you found the rifle wrapped in the blanket, upon your
return to Mrs. Paine's, where was it located?
Mrs. OSWALD. In the garage, where all the rest of the things were.
Mr. RANKIN. In what part of the garage?
Mrs. OSWALD. In that part which is closer to the street, because that
garage is connected to the house. One door opens on the kitchen, and
the other out in the street.
Mr. RANKIN. Was the rifle lying down or was it standing up on the butt
end?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, it was lying down on the floor.
Mr. RANKIN. When your husband talked about going to Mexico City, did he
say where he was going to go there, who he would visit?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. He said that he would go to the Soviet Embassy and to
the Cuban Embassy and would do everything he could in order to get to
Cuba.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you where he would stay in Mexico City?
Mrs. OSWALD. In a hotel.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you the name?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, he didn't know where he would stop.
Mr. RANKIN. Was there any discussion about the expense of making the
trip?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. But we always lived very modestly, and Lee always had
some savings. Therefore, he had the money for it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say how much it would cost?
Mrs. OSWALD. He had a little over $100 and he said that that would be
sufficient.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he talk about getting you a silver bracelet or any
presents before he went?
Mrs. OSWALD. It is perhaps more truth to say that he asked me what I
would like, and I told him that I would like Mexican silver bracelets.
But what he did buy me I didn't like at all. When he returned to
Irving, from Mexico City, and I saw the bracelet, I was fairly sure
that he had bought it in New Orleans and not in Mexico City, because I
had seen bracelets like that for sale there. That is why I am not sure
that the bracelet was purchased in Mexico.
Lee had an identical bracelet which he had bought in either Dallas or
New Orleans. It was a man's bracelet.
Mr. RANKIN. The silver bracelet he gave you when he got back had your
name on it, did it not?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Was it too small?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I was offended because it was too small, and he
promised to exchange it. But, of course, I didn't want to hurt him, and
I said, thank you, the important thing is the thought, the attention.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he discuss other things that he planned to do in Mexico
City, such as see the bullfights or jai alai games or anything of that
kind?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I was already questioned about this game by the FBI,
but I never heard of it. But I had asked Lee to buy some Mexican
records, but he did not do that.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know how he got to Mexico City?
Mrs. OSWALD. By bus.
Mr. RANKIN. And did he return by bus, also?
Mrs. OSWALD. It seems, yes. Yes, he told me that a round-trip ticket
was cheaper than two one-way tickets.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you learn that he had a tourist card to go to Mexico?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. If he had such a card, you didn't know it then?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. After he had been to Mexico City, did he come back to
Irving or to Dallas?
Mrs. OSWALD. When Lee returned I was already in Irving and he
telephoned me. But he told me that he had arrived the night before and
had spent the night in Dallas, and called me in the morning.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say where he had been in Dallas?
Mrs. OSWALD. It seems to me at the YMcA.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he come right out to see you then?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you anything about his trip to Mexico City?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, he told me that he had visited the two embassies,
that he had received nothing, that the people who are there are too
much--too bureaucratic. He said that he has spent the time pretty well.
And I had told him that if he doesn't accomplish anything to at least
take a good rest. I was hoping that the climate, if nothing else, would
be beneficial to him.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ask him what he did the rest of the time?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I think he said that he visited a bull fight, that he
spent most of his time in museums, and that he did some sightseeing in
the city.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you about anyone that he met there?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
He said that he did not like the Mexican girls.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you anything about what happened at the Cuban
Embassy, or consulate?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. Only that he had talked to certain people there.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he tell you what people he talked to?
Mrs. OSWALD. He said that he first visited the Soviet Embassy in the
hope that having been there first this would make it easier for him at
the Cuban Embassy. But there they refused to have anything to do with
him.
Mr. RANKIN. And what did he say about the visit to the Cuban Embassy or
consulate?
Mrs. OSWALD. It was quite without results.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he complain about the consular or any of the officials
of the Cuban Embassy and the way they handled the matter?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, he called them bureaucrats. He said that the Cubans
seemed to have a system similar to the Russians--too much red tape
before you get through there.
Mr. RANKIN. Is there anything else that he told you about the Mexico
City trip that you haven't related?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, that is all that I can remember about it.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall how long he was gone on his trip to Mexico
City?
Mrs. OSWALD. All of this took approximately 2 weeks, from the time that
I left New Orleans, until the time that he returned.
Mr. RANKIN. And from the time he left the United States to go to Mexico
City to his return, was that about 7 days?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes. He said he was there for about a week.
Mr. RANKIN. When you were asked before about the trip to Mexico, you
did not say that you knew anything about it. Do you want to explain to
the Commission how that happened?
Mrs. OSWALD. Most of these questions were put to me by the FBI. I do
not like them too much. I didn't want to be too sincere with them.
Though I was quite sincere and answered most of their questions. They
questioned me a great deal, and I was very tired of them, and I thought
that, well, whether I knew about it or didn't know about it didn't
change matters at all, it didn't help anything, because the fact that
Lee had been there was already known, and whether or not I knew about
it didn't make any difference.
Mr. RANKIN. Was that the only reason that you did not tell about what
you knew of the Mexico City trip before?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, because the first time that they asked me I said no,
I didn't know anything about it. And in all succeeding discussions I
couldn't very well have said I did. There is nothing special in that.
It wasn't because this was connected with some sort of secret.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your husband stay with you at the Paines after that
first night when he returned from Mexico?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, he stayed overnight there.
And in the morning we took him to Dallas.
Mr. RANKIN. And by "we" who do you mean?
Mrs. OSWALD. Ruth Paine, I and her children.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know what he did in Dallas, then?
Mrs. OSWALD. He intended to rent an apartment in the area of Oak Cliff,
and to look for work.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know whether he did that?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, I know that he always tried to get some work. He was
not lazy.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he rent the apartment?
Mrs. OSWALD. On the same day he rented a room, not an apartment, and he
telephoned me and told me about it.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you discuss the plans for this room before you took him
to Dallas?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. I asked him where he would live, and he said it
would be best if he rented a room, it would not be as expensive as an
apartment.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he say anything about whether you would be living with
him, or he would be living there alone?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, I did not really want to be with Lee at that time,
because I was expecting, and it would have been better to be with a
woman who spoke English and Russian.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know where your husband looked for work in Dallas at
that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. He tried to get any kind of work. He answered ads,
newspaper ads.
Mr. RANKIN. Did he have trouble finding work again?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. How long after his return was it before he found a job?
Mrs. OSWALD. Two to three weeks.
Mr. RANKIN. When he was unemployed in New Orleans, did he get
unemployment compensation?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you know how much he was getting then?
Mrs. OSWALD. $33 a week. It is possible to live on that money. One can
fail to find work and live. Perhaps you don't believe me. It is not bad
to rest and receive money.
Mr. RANKIN. When he was unemployed in Dallas, do you know whether he
received unemployment compensation?
Mrs. OSWALD. We were due to receive unemployment compensation, but it
was getting close to the end of his entitlement period, and we received
one more check.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you discuss with him possible places of employment
after his return from Mexico?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. That was his business. I couldn't help him in that.
But to some extent I did help him find a job, because I was visiting
Mrs. Paine's neighbors. There was a woman there who told me where he
might find some work.
Mr. RANKIN. And when was this?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't remember. If that is important, I can try and
ascertain date. But I think you probably know.
Mr. RANKIN. Was it shortly before he obtained work?
Mrs. OSWALD. As soon as we got the information, the next day he went
there and he did get the job.
Mr. RANKIN. And who was it that you got the information from?
Mrs. OSWALD. It was the neighbor whose brother was employed by the
school book depository. He said it seemed to him there was a vacancy
there.
Mr. RANKIN. What was his name?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't know.
The CHAIRMAN. Well, I think we have arrived at our adjournment time. We
will recess now until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
(Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)
_Tuesday, February 4, 1964_