Mr. JENNER. That spelling makes sense. I think that's probably an
accurate spelling.
Mr. VOSHININ. Her daughter still keeps this name.
Mr. JENNER. What is her daughter's first name--the one you now have in
mind?
Mr. VOSHININ. Christina.
Mr. JENNER. Christina. And she also had a child--Alexandra?
Mr. VOSHININ. I don't know anything about it.
Mr. JENNER. Did De Mohrenschildt have a daughter by the name of
Alexandra?
Mr. VOSHININ. De Mohrenschildt has two daughters, but I wouldn't know
their names.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. VOSHININ. Though I met both girls, but I somehow slipped up. My
wife probably knows them.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. VOSHININ. Christina Bogoiavlensky is a very good girl--and her
husband, too. They are quite different from the parents.
Mr. JENNER. Go ahead.
Mr. VOSHININ. So, after that assignment in Yugoslavia, he had an
assignment in Ghana--which somehow puzzled us. First of all, it was a
pretty short assignment; secondly, that the thing is that he showed us
a newspaper edited in Ghana in which, on the first page, was a short
article describing the arrival of "this famous specialist in postal
stamps--Mr. De Mohrenschildt, who came to Ghana on business as a
representative of a Swedish company."
Well, De Mohrenschildt, what he says about that, he says, "Oh, those
jerks--they don't know anything."
Mr. JENNER. Now, excuse me. The newspaper account was to the effect
that De Mohrenschildt had come to Ghana as a representative of a
Swedish company?
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, I don't know whether the word "Swedish," was in
there--but it said, "As a representative,"--and he said that it would
be this Swedish company.
Mr. JENNER. He said that it was a Swedish company?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. The newspaper may just had the name of the company,
you know.
Mr. JENNER. But it did mention De Mohrenschildt?
Mr. VOSHININ. Oh, yes. "George De Mohrenschildt, famous philatelist and
specialist in stamps"--and so on.
And I said, "George, since when do you understand anything in stamps?
Since when are you a specialist in postal stamps?"
"Oh," he said, "I'm not; but, first of all, those jerks there, they
don't know the difference anyhow; besides that, that company also
provides Ghana and other African country with stamps, and it also has
trades in different other commodities and also has oil interests in
Africa." So, he says, "I went there as their representative to see what
parts of the country they would lease there for, you know, for oil
leases and assign--and sign some kind of contract with them--with the
Government of Ghana--in their name, and came back to Dallas.
Mr. JENNER. And then he returned to Dallas?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. And, later, he also referred that that company has
interests in Nigeria--and he says, "you know, I am Swedish--so they
rely on me."
The whole thing puzzles us a little because I think there are
many geologists in Sweden itself--but perhaps they don't have oil
specialists there. I think there is no oil in Sweden.
Mr. JENNER. Did you and the other members of the community think that
he was exaggerating or this was all fictional?
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, I couldn't doubt when the newspaper says that.
Mr. JENNER. When the Ghana newspaper said that?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. So he must have been in Ghana. He wouldn't print
that newspaper--I hope. But, of course, he is a man who exaggerates
a lot. He is that kind of character. I never believe 100 percent of
whatever he was talking, because he was always, you know, making talk
much more than he actually is.
Mr. JENNER. At least, he tended to exaggerate?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes; because he always posed everybody as a big shot, you
know.
Mr. JENNER. Everybody with whom he was associated?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes, are--or to whom he met--that he was a, you know,
big businessman, big oil man, and so on--big specialist. And he wrote
an article about himself in the Oil and Gas Journal about Yugoslavia,
his trip to Yugoslavia, and it was said that by knowledge of the State
Department he was there; and it was implied that he was actually
in the Foreign Aid, you know, and that he--and it was said, you
know, like a little thing, you know, an explanation he wrote about
himself. You can get that Oil and Gas Journal. And it was said that
Mr. De Mohrenschildt is an internationally know specialist in oil, a
consultant to at least six different governments and so on. And there
was--all kind of countries were there, I don't know which ones but, of
course, Yugoslavia was mentioned there. And he tells about his trip to
Yugoslavia and he told everybody then after--when he came back from
Yugoslavia he was called to the State Department to give his opinion on
the state of affairs in Yugoslavia--"And I gave quite a lecture there
to those boys there in the State Department. They all sat down and
listened to me." You know, that kind of talk.
So, then he was in Ghana and I heard he was a second time in Ghana and
a second time in Yugoslavia--but I didn't hear it from him. I just
heard that as a rumor.
And then when he was in Yugoslavia, he also made a trip to Sweden,
after Yugoslavia, and from Sweden he went to Poland, to Warsaw. And,
you know, in Warsaw he went to high school and he had a lot of friends
and relatives--so he said he stayed there for a week, and----
Mr. JENNER. When was this? When did this take place?
Mr. VOSHININ. In Poland, I think was 1958, because he was in 1957,
1958, he was in Yugoslavia and after Yugoslavia I think he went to
Sweden and from Sweden he went to Warsaw to see relatives. He has
cousins there. He said it was very difficult for him because to get
even the permission of the American Government to go there and visit
Poland, but he finally got it, and the Polish visa he finally got that.
And he went to see his relatives and friends for a week. And he said
that Warsaw made on him a very sad impression because he said it was
much more cheerful city before the war and he used to live there. And,
besides that, he made a lot of travels which we don't know. Of course,
one trip was his famous trip when he went by foot to Panama City.
Mr. JENNER. Fix the time of that, please?
Mr. VOSHININ. That was 1960, 1961.
Mr. JENNER. Was that at about the time of the Cuban invasion or the
preparations for the Cuban invasion?
Mr. VOSHININ. I don't know. No. Cuban invasion was much later. You mean
our Cuban invasion?
Mr. JENNER. I don't want to say it was our Cuban invasion--but there
was an invasion of Cuba.
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, I take that from the record.
Mr. JENNER. Was it about this time?
Mr. VOSHININ. No, that was before that time, I would say, because it
was in 1960. We don't know when they left because we were not on
speaking terms at that time.
Mr. JENNER. Had there come about a break in friendship with De
Mohrenschildt?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes; but that was about the time when they left on their
trip.
Mr. JENNER. They were supposed to do what?
Mr. VOSHININ. To go by foot from Torreon on to Panama City. This is a
city near the American border there and, as we were explained later by
them, they went to Torreon. They have a lot of friends on the border,
you know. There is particularly a very rich man there who is American
married with a Mexican girl--a very rich man living near Eagle Pass.
Mr. JENNER. Do you recall his name?
Mr. VOSHININ. Tito Harper, I think.
Mr. JENNER. Harper? Tito Harper?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah; I think so. You can check it with my wife. I never
met him but I met his wife. They're very nice people, very rich people,
big businessman there on the border. They have, you know, business on
both sides of the border, and they are big friends of George.
And, from there, he went to Torreon--I don't know why Torreon--and
I understand that from there they started by foot to cross Old
Mexico, Guatemala, San Salvador, and all the countries throughout by
foot--having a mule and on the mule they had their, you know, their
belongings, and a little mule and a little dog, and the mule rode the
dog--I mean, the dog rode the mule--and that way they traveled, you
know, badly dressed, through all those countries for more than a year.
In order not to be killed, you know, they dressed very badly because
it's dangerous. You know this already. They didn't go along the main
highways, they went through the back passes, you know, through all the
hills.
And they made a movie on their whole travel, which I saw. And, for
example, they climbed the volcano which was in action up to the
top--which was erupting. They made a movie of her standing from the
lava flow as from here to the door (indicating a few feet.) And he
made the movie--it's real exciting--a colored movie and that red lava
flowing--you know, these people are very adventurous and, of course,
they enjoy doing things like that. I wouldn't climb it.
And, so, they finally came to Panama City. And then from Panama City
they flew to Haiti where George had a very close friend--also a very
rich man there of Russian background on Haiti.
Mr. JENNER. Did he mention his name?
Mr. VOSHININ. He's dead now.
Mr. JENNER. He's dead? Did he mention his name?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes, he was--I'm bad on names. His first name was
Michel--which is Michael, of course, and what the second name is,
I don't know--Brightman. He was a very old man who was a local
businessman on Haiti, and he died since.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. VOSHININ. And as antireligious as they both were, they came to
church and ordered a church service for Brightman. That was the only
time she was in the church--because she's more antireligious than he is.
Mr. JENNER. Now, when you say "she," you mean Mrs. De Mohrenschildt?
Mr. VOSHININ. Mrs. De Mohrenschildt--yes. Because he's not religious,
not believing in God, but he's not fighting it. But she----
Mr. JENNER. He's not antagonistic to religion but she is?
Mr. VOSHININ. She is. Yeah. But the only time she came--and she cried
in the church.
Mr. JENNER. Now, which church is this? Here in Dallas or in Haiti?
Mr. VOSHININ. Here.
Mr. JENNER. I see.
Mr. VOSHININ. When they came back, you see, from there, Brightman died
after--pretty soon, and they came to the church--which puzzled our
pastor very much, Father Royster--and they asked for a church service.
Mr. JENNER. They asked to have a mass said for the deceased Mr.
Brightman?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. So, after that, when he came already he said he
would like to look for another assignment.
Mr. JENNER. Excuse me. Was there anything said when they came back,
or reports that when they were in Guatemala that they occupied a home
there of some people, I think, from Arizona--Hilton or Tilton?
Mr. VOSHININ. No--not that I know of.
Mr. JENNER. Or a name of that character? And they stayed in Guatemala
while the Cuban refugees were being trained?
Mr. VOSHININ. No; I didn't hear about that.
Mr. JENNER. You didn't? All right.
Mr. VOSHININ. You see, they didn't write us from their trip.
Mr. JENNER. All right.
Mr. VOSHININ. What we heard from their trip, we heard actually from Mr.
and Mrs. Ballen.
Mr. JENNER. [Spelling] B-a-l-l-e-n--Sam Ballen?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah.
Mr. JENNER. Sam Ballen is a friend of theirs?
Mr. VOSHININ. Sam Ballen was then a friend of theirs and Sam Ballen was
a friend of the boss, Mr. Rogatz, my wife's boss. That's how we came to
know Mr. Ballen, through Mr. Rogatz. Mr. Ballen was there almost every
day in Rogatz' office.
Mr. JENNER. But Ballen was a particular friend of De Mohrenschildt; is
that correct?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes; I would say so. Ballen had some kind of admiration
of George--which I can't share too well. I think George is a very
interesting fellow, I enjoyed talking with him--taking, of course, 30
or 40 percent off of what he says. But still the rest of it was always
interesting because, you know, a man who travels, always travels,
always tells something interesting about the country. And George had a
certain talent of observation.
You know, he is writing a book about his travels to Panama and he has
it written day by day; and now he wants to sell this book. He read us a
few pages from that book.
Mr. DAVIS. Is that George Bouhe?
Mr. VOSHININ. No; George De Mohrenschildt. George Bouhe is an unusually
dumb person. And then he finally got this Haiti assignment, of course.
Mr. JENNER. And he left Dallas for the Haiti assignment when?
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, somewhere in the spring last year.
Mr. JENNER. 1963?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah.
Mr. JENNER. What did he tell you about that assignment, if he told you
anything?
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, he showed us a newspaper again.
Mr. JENNER. What newspaper?
Mr. VOSHININ. From Haiti.
Mr. JENNER. And to what effect was the article in the paper?
Mr. VOSHININ. It was more than a page.
Mr. JENNER. More than a page?
Mr. VOSHININ. It may--it was more than a page and it was the official
newspaper of the Government of Haiti--which was a contract between the
Government of Haiti and George De Mohrenschildt Co., Inc.--not George
De Mohrenschildt himself--to make a magnetic survey of Haiti for the
sum of--I don't remember exactly--about $300,000; in which it said that
Mr. De Mohrenschildt's company will, according to specification, make a
magnetic survey and also work on discoveries of minerals--oil and other
minerals.
Mr. JENNER. In Haiti?
Mr. VOSHININ. For the country of Haiti--and I think the contract is for
2 years.
I also saw another newspaper, which she showed to everybody--Mrs. De
Mohrenschildt--in which it was said that a contract was signed between
our country and Mr. De Mohrenschildt's company and Mr. De Mohrenschildt
is an American businessman who is just visiting now our country with
his wonderful wife. And she liked that, of course. And it was few more
words written about how wonderful she was--so she told--showed it to
everybody. Well, that's only human--"They say I'm a wonderful woman!"
Mr. JENNER. These two newspaper accounts were shown to you by the De
Mohrenschildts?
Mr. VOSHININ. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. While they were here in Dallas before they left for Haiti?
Mr. VOSHININ. No; they were in Haiti before they finally left there. It
was on a short trip to sign the contract.