Mr. VOSHININ. May I say something in addition?
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. VOSHININ. Because that's what I said about her.
What his concern--I never heard about him praising Chinese or Russian
Communists but he was praising the Yugoslav Communists. He was there
and he came there and he was very enthusiastic about what the wonderful
things they are doing. You know, I lived in Yugoslavia myself and I
tried to explain him that this country was pretty good country before
and there was nothing just to save it from.
Mr. JENNER. Yes.
Mr. VOSHININ. But, of course, he didn't see it and he was very
enthusiastic and--about mountains and so on. I tried to persuade him
they were there before, you know, that they were wonderful before--and
that Communists did not build them--but he would somehow always, was
always enthusiastic about that.
Mr. JENNER. About Yugoslavia?
Mr. VOSHININ. About Yugoslavia and the Yugoslavia regime.
Mr. JENNER. And its regime as well?
Mr. VOSHININ. Its regime as well. That's true.
About China, he said he doesn't know anything; he'll let his wife talk.
So, anyhow, these people are, of course, leftist people.
Mr. JENNER. The De Mohrenschildts are leftists?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. But she much more than him. Because he was, on the
other hand, boasting, you know, that he never voted for a Democrat.
Mr. JENNER. He had never voted for a Democrat?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. He was always an Eisenhower man, a Republican--and
they argued between themselves the whole time.
Mr. JENNER. That is Mr. and Mrs. De Mohrenschildt?
Mr. VOSHININ. Oh, yes. And the way they argued on politics among
themselves--because she was somehow bitterly left, and he sometimes
tried to, you know, get her be a little more objective.
Mr. JENNER. Induce her to be a little more objective?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yeah. But she was always bitterly to the left.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ever meet either Lee or Marina Oswald?
Mr. VOSHININ. No, sir; thank God!
Mr. JENNER. Did a time come when you heard about Lee or Marina Oswald?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Tell us the circumstances.
Mr. VOSHININ. I read in the newspaper, Dallas Herald, about them.
Mr. JENNER. When?
Mr. VOSHININ. Oh, when they came to this country. There was a short
article about an American defector to the Communists, that he finally
came back with a Russian wife.
Mr. JENNER. That was in June of 1962--just to orient you. You saw that
item in the newspaper?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. Was it a subject of discussion in the community among the
people you've told us about?
Mr. VOSHININ. No; not in the beginning. Except that we heard--we
visited Mr. and Mrs. Clark.
Mr. JENNER. Is that Mr. and Mrs. Max Clark?
Mr. VOSHININ. That's right.
Mr. JENNER. An attorney in Fort Worth?
Mr. VOSHININ. In Fort Worth. And she is of Russian descent, as you
know; and they told us that they met this couple which came from Soviet
Russia and they didn't like them. And they said he was very unpleasant
and bitter fellow--and they wouldn't like to see him again--something
like that. So, we decided already there that we wouldn't like to
meet them either, you know--and especially, you know, you don't like
any kind of defector, you know, or any kind of unpleasant, "bummish"
people, you know. That's a Dallas expression. That's polite for bum--as
he was described to us. He--Oswald.
So, later, we heard that Mr. Bouhe, of course, in lack of other
prospects for help, started helping the Oswald family. But as far as
our relations with Bouhe nowadays, already for many years, are just
very, very occasional; we had no direct contact with him except we
really need something, you know, an address or some information of that
kind. So, Bouhe wouldn't bring them to us. He knows that--better than
bringing to us anybody.
But, as I understand, the De Mohrenschildts met with the Oswalds and
the De Mohrenschildts told us that there are two poor, very poor and
young people here, Mr. and Mrs. Oswald, and they need help and she has
a toothache and they are bringing her to the dentist, and so on--they
don't have a penny and nobody gives them a job, and things like that.
And "would you like to meet them?"
Well, after reading, you know, what we read and after hearing from
Clarks, who these people are, I say, "No, George; I don't like to meet
him." And my wife said, "Oh, no; we don't like to meet with that kind
of people."
So, I said that very insistently--so the De Mohrenschildts knew better
than acquaint us. So, never we met them. Of course, it could have
happened, you know, if we would have just dropped in sometime. There
was always a possibility of that kind. But, thank God----
Mr. JENNER. But it never happened?
Mr. VOSHININ. It never happened. So, we always were hearing about them
from De Mohrenschildts and other people but we never met them actually.
Mr. JENNER. You had the impression, did you not--or did you--that the
De Mohrenschildts saw the Oswalds frequently and were attempting to
assist them?
Mr. VOSHININ. Yes; he was--only one time he was very bitter about
Oswald when he beat up his wife.
Mr. JENNER. Tell us about that.
Mr. VOSHININ. Well, once we saw De Mohrenschildt and his wife and he
said, "Well, he doesn't behave like he should. What does he think he
is, beating his wife?" But Mrs. De Mohrenschildt said, "Well, don't
just judge people without knowing what's behind them." She said, "You
always, George, you jump to conclusions. We don't know what happened."