Mrs. OSWALD. This was only felt. It wasn't said in actual words.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you feel that it was a threat?
Mrs. OSWALD. This was not quite a threat--it was not a threat. But it
was their great desire that I be in contact, in touch with the FBI. I
sensed that.
Mr. RANKIN. But you did not consider it to be a threat to you?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did anyone indicate that it would affect your ability to
work in this country if you cooperated?
Mrs. OSWALD. Excuse me. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Is there anything else about your treatment by law
enforcement officials during this period that you would like to tell
the Commission about?
Mrs. OSWALD. I think that the FBI agents knew that I was afraid that
after everything that had happened I could not remain to live in this
country, and they somewhat exploited that for their own purposes, in a
very polite form, so that you could not say anything after that. They
cannot be accused of anything. They approached it in a very clever,
contrived way.
Mr. RANKIN. Was there anyone else of the law enforcement officials that
you felt treated you in that manner?
Mrs. OSWALD. No. As for the rest, I was quite content. Everyone was
very attentive towards me.
Mr. RANKIN. Where were you on the morning of November 24th when your
husband was killed?
Mrs. OSWALD. The night from the 23d to the 24th I spent at a hotel in
Dallas, together with the mother. She wanted to make sure that the
Life reporters who had taken this room would pay for it, as they had
promised. But they disappeared. Then she telephoned Robert, it seems to
me, and Gregory--no, Mr. Gregory. And I know that he came with Robert,
and Robert paid for the room. And, after that, after we left the hotel,
we met with the Secret Service agents. I wanted to see Lee, and we were
supposed to go to the police station to see him.
Mr. RANKIN. That was on November 24th, on Sunday?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes.
Mr. RANKIN. And then what happened?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't remember whether we went to Ruth to take my things
or perhaps--in general, I remember that en route, in the car, Mike
Howard or Charley Kunkel said that Lee had been shot today.
At first he said that it wasn't serious--perhaps just not to frighten
me. I was told that he had been taken to a hospital, and then I was
told that he had been seriously wounded.
Then they had to telephone somewhere. They stopped at the house of the
chief of police, Curry. From there, I telephone Ruth to tell her that I
wanted to take several things which I needed with me and asked her to
prepare them. And that there was a wallet with money and Lee's ring.
Soon after that--Robert was no longer with me, but Gregory was there,
and the mother, and the Secret Service agents. They said that Lee had
died.
After that, we went to the Motel Inn, the Six Flags Inn, where I stayed
for several days--perhaps two weeks--I don't know.
Mr. RANKIN. Do you recall what time of the day you heard that your
husband had been shot?
Mrs. OSWALD. Two o'clock in the afternoon, I think.
Mr. RANKIN. And where were you at that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. I was in a car.
Mr. RANKIN. Just riding around, or at some particular place?
Mrs. OSWALD. No, not at two o'clock--earlier. Lee was shot at 11
o'clock. It was probably close to 12 o'clock. He died at one.
Mr. RANKIN. And where was the car that you were in at that time?
Mrs. OSWALD. We were on the way to Chief Curry, en route from the hotel.
Mr. RANKIN. What did you do after you went to the motel?
Mrs. OSWALD. I left with Robert and we prepared for the funeral.
Then Ruth Paine sent my things to me via the agent.
Mr. GOPADZE. She would like a recess for a little while. She has a
headache.
The CHAIRMAN. Yes, we will recess.
(Brief recess)
The CHAIRMAN. The Commission will be in order. Do you feel refreshed
now, Mrs. Oswald, ready to proceed?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, thank you.
The CHAIRMAN. Very well.
Mr. Rankin?
Mr. RANKIN. Mrs. Oswald, I asked you if you asked your husband about
his efforts to escape, why he did that. I will ask you now whether
in light of what you said about his seeking notoriety in connection
with the assassination, in your opinion how you explain his efforts to
escape, which would presumably not give him that notoriety.
Mrs. OSWALD. When he did that, he probably did it with the intention of
becoming notorious. But after that, it is probably a normal reaction of
a man to try and escape.
Mr. RANKIN. You will recall that in the interviews, after the
assassination, you first said that you thought your husband didn't do
it, do you?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't remember it, but quite possibly I did say that.
You must understand that now I only speak the truth.
Mr. RANKIN. Recently you said that you thought your husband did kill
President Kennedy.
Mrs. OSWALD. I now have enough facts to say that.
Mr. RANKIN. Can you give us or the Commission an idea generally about
when you came to this latter conclusion, that he did kill President
Kennedy?
Mrs. OSWALD. Perhaps a week after it all happened, perhaps a little
more. The more facts came out, the more convinced I was.
Mr. RANKIN. You have stated in some of your interviews that your
husband would get on his knees and cry and say that he was lost. Do you
recall when this happened?
Mrs. OSWALD. That was in New Orleans.
Mr. RANKIN. Was it more than one occasion?
Mrs. OSWALD. When he said that, that was only once.
Mr. RANKIN. And do you know what caused him to say that?
Mrs. OSWALD. I don't know.
Mr. RANKIN. You don't know whether there was some occasion or some
happening that caused it?
Mrs. OSWALD. No.
Mr. RANKIN. Did your mother-in-law ever indicate that she had some
particular evidence, either oral or documentary, that would decide this
case?
Mrs. OSWALD. Yes, she always said that she has a pile of papers and
many acquaintances.
Mr. RANKIN. Did you ever ask her to tell you what it was that would be
so decisive about the case?
Mrs. OSWALD. I would have liked to ask her, but I didn't speak any
English. And then I didn't believe her. What documents could she have
when she had not seen Lee for one year, and she didn't even know we
lived in New Orleans?