Mr. WEISSMAN. Exhibit No. 1035. This is dated Munich, Germany, January
7, 1963.
(At this point, Senator Cooper withdrew from the hearing room.)
Mr. JENNER. It is addressed to whom?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Larrie Schmidt.
Mr. JENNER. And I take it it is your letter to Larrie Schmidt.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. Did you dispatch the letter?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes; I did.
Mr. JENNER. And is that a true and correct copy of the original that
you did dispatch to Larrie Schmidt?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Erasures and all; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And did you become aware of the fact subsequently to your
mailing that letter that he received it?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. You had occasion to discuss it with him?
Mr. WEISSMAN. He sent me a letter.
Mr. JENNER. He responded?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes; he did.
Mr. JENNER. All right. Do you have his response?
Mr. WEISSMAN. I don't know. I have his response. I don't know if it is
with me.
Representative BOGGS. Let's first have what he said.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Paragraph 2 on the second page, "Larrie, as relates to
the political goals of CUSA and the methods of achieving them, I (not
alone)"--meaning Bill Burley--"do not wholly support your ideas as
concerning the NIC and related or affiliated organizations. It seems to
us that this type of organization smacks of hypocrisy. I feel that any
type of organization that we choose to support or begin to take support
from should be free from the racism and prejudice in general that
is rampant among the high officers of the NIC. It should be obvious
to you that once we associate ourselves with these people, we may
acquire a personal reputation that can never be lived down. I am sure
you have considered this yourself, because I remember we had talked
of it several times. Larrie, let me remind you that my zeal has not
slackened, but that I did not want to compromise myself or my ideals
for the sake of accomplishing our goals a year ahead of time. I know
and you know that we can do a fantastic job once we get together again
with or without these organizations."
Representative BOGGS. What do you say about your name, though?
Mr. WEISSMAN. About my name?
Representative BOGGS. Yes. Changing your name.
Mr. WEISSMAN. I didn't refer to it directly. In other words, in the
letter I received from Larrie, he said--he mentioned that the NIC, the
leadership, Frank McGee, was anti-Jewish, and it might be best if I
changed my name in order to bring myself down to where I can associate
with these people.
(At this point, Senator Cooper reentered the hearing room.)
Representative BOGGS. Do you have a copy of that letter?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Let me take a look here. With your permission, I would
like to read into the record a paragraph----
Mr. JENNER. To what are you referring now, sir?
Mr. WEISSMAN. This is a letter sent by Larrie Schmidt to Larry Jones.
Mr. JENNER. And it is in longhand, is it?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes; it is.
Mr. JENNER. And do you recognize the handwriting?
Mr. WEISSMAN. It is Larrie's.
Mr. JENNER. It consists of seven pages, which we will mark Commission
Exhibit No. 1036.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 1036 for
identification.)
Mr. JENNER. Before you read from the letter, how did you come into
possession of the letter?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Larry Jones gave it to me.
Mr. JENNER. Over in Germany?
Mr. WEISSMAN. Over in Germany; yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. And the envelope which I now have in my hand, from which
you extracted the letter, is postmarked Dallas, Tex., November 5.
Representative BOGGS. What year?
Mr. JENNER. 1962. Is that the envelope in which the letter, Commission
Exhibit No. 1036, was received by Mr. Jones? I notice the letter is
addressed to Mr. Jones, SP-4 Larry Jones.
Mr. WEISSMAN. Yes, sir.
Mr. JENNER. We will mark that as Commission Exhibit No. 1036-A--that
is, the envelope.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 1036-A for
identification.)
Mr. WEISSMAN. On the third page, last paragraph, he has marked "One
bad thing, though. Frank gives me the impression of being rather
anti-Semetic. He is Catholic. Suggest Bernie convert to Christianity,
and I mean it."
"We must all return to church. These people here are religious bugs.
Also no liberal talk whatsoever--none." Larrie had a flare for the
dramatic.
Mr. DULLES. When he mentions "these people" who does he mean?
Mr. WEISSMAN. The NIC. And at this point I was ready to drop out of
the organization completely, but thought better of it, because I am a
perennial optimist. I felt once I got down there--it is like changing
your wife after you marry her. You figure everything will work out.
Representative FORD. This CUSA organization in Munich--did it have any
local Munich affiliation at all? I mean German affiliation?
Mr. WEISSMAN. No; none whatsoever. Strictly an American proposition.