President's Commission on the Assassination of - The Warren Commission (Complete Edition)

Representative Ford. You had no prior knowledge that he was studying Russian or had become articulate in Russian?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not.

Representative Ford. In your experiences with Lee during your lifetime, did he ever show a skill at language, for languages?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I know of no time nor can I recall of any time that he studied any foreign language or in my presence that he even read a book in a foreign language or attempted to teach himself any type of foreign language.

Mr. Jenner. Representative Ford, if you have reached a break, I would like to identify the exhibit the witness provided and also identify the letter to which you now have reference.

Would you obtain that telegram and also identify the date of the letter to which you have lastly made reference so that I may identify our copies?

Mr. McKenzie. November 8, 1959, is the letter, Mr. Jenner, and the telegram is June 14, 1962.

Mr. Jenner. Mr. Chairman, we have marked photostatic copies of the telegram to which the witness referred as having been received from the Special Welfare Services as Commission Exhibit No. 293, and the letter of November 18, 1959, as Commission Exhibit 294.

(The telegram and letter referred to were marked Commission Exhibit Nos. 293 and 294, respectively, for identification.)

Mr. Jenner. Would you obtain the original of those or hand the witness the originals?

Mr. McKenzie. I have just handed them to him.

Mr. Jenner. Would you hand him the original of the letter, please?

Directing your attention to the telegram first, Mr. Oswald, which is now marked Commission Exhibit 293, is that the original of the telegram to which you made reference as having been received first by telephone call through your wife on June 14, 19——

Mr. Oswald. Pardon me, June 13.

Mr. Jenner. 13?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. This reply that we are referring to here now is June 14.

Mr. Jenner. I see.

Mr. Oswald. We were first contacted on the evening of June 13.

Mr. Jenner. I take it then, sir, that you received a telephone call on June 13, is that correct?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Or your wife did. And Exhibit 293 which is dated the 14th, is what?

Mr. Oswald. I am sorry, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Following the receipt of the telephone call on June 13, did you receive or did you send any communication from or to the New York Welfare Center?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir. I sent a telegram on the afternoon of June 13, 1962, wiring a total of $200 to the Special Service Welfare Center at New York, and also enclosing a message to Lee to contact me or to the extent that someone there perhaps would notify me when to expect them in Fort Worth.

Mr. Jenner. Did you receive word from New York as to when Lee and Marina might expect to be in Dallas?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. And was that by telegram or telephone?

Mr. Oswald. This was by telephone I first received the word.

Mr. Jenner. Did you receive something in writing that confirmed that?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I did.

Mr. Jenner. Is that document before you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it is.

Mr. Jenner. It is marked Commission Exhibit 293, and you actually received that document which is now before you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. June 14.

Mr. Chairman, I offer in evidence as Commission Exhibit 293, the document so marked and identified.

Mr. Dulles. It may be accepted.

(The document heretofore marked Commission Exhibit No. 293 was received in evidence.)

Mr. Jenner. The letter of November 8, 19—do you have a better copy, is that 1959?

Mr. Oswald. It is 1959.

Mr. Dulles. May I just ask a question, are we putting in the original of that or is a photographic copy being substituted for it?

Mr. Jenner. We are employing as a substitute for the original a photostatic copy which has been marked Commission Exhibit 293.

Mr. Dulles. All right.

Mr. McKenzie. Mr. Chairman, could I be excused for just a moment, please?

(Short recess.)

Mr. Jenner. In view of the witness' testimony, may I suggest to the Commission the feasibility of identifying this particular exhibit since the witness referred to it in response to the questions put by Representative Ford.

Mr. Dulles. All right.

Mr. Jenner. Would you identify the date of Commission Exhibit 294, the original?

Mr. Oswald. The date of the letter is November 8, 1959.

Mr. Jenner. Whose handwriting is it?

Mr. Oswald. It is in Lee Harvey Oswald's handwriting.

Mr. Jenner. It is addressed, the second page of the exhibit, is an envelope, which is addressed to R. Oswald, 7313 Davenport Street, Fort Worth, Tex., U.S.A., is that you?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Are you able to identify that which appears in the upper lefthand corner of the original.

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I am not.

Mr. Jenner. Is that in Russian?

Mr. Oswald. I would assume that it would be.

Mr. Jenner. Did you receive the letter, Commission Exhibit 294, in due course?

Mr. Oswald. I did. I received it on the 13th day of November 1959.

Mr. Jenner. Is this the letter to which you made reference in responding to Representative Ford's questions?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.

Mr. Jenner. Is the letter in the same condition now and is the envelope now in the same condition now that it was when you received it except that the envelope has been opened to remove the contents?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; they are.

Mr. Jenner. Does that include the scratching out that appears at the bottom of the second page?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; it does.

Mr. Jenner. Is that which appears under the attempted obliteration, can you see what was obliterated on the second page, when you examine the original?

Mr. Oswald. I might refer to the first cross out there, it looks like he had signed his name there "Lee." The second cross out, one word or three words or four words out of the five are legible "this written in Russian" the balance of the words that were crossed out, I cannot make out.

Mr. Jenner. Mr. Chairman, I would suggest, if I may, that the witness might read this short letter aloud to the Commission which will, indicate to the Commission the mental state of Lee Harvey Oswald at the time he went to Russia in the very early days, and bring it to your attention immediately.

Mr. Dulles. What is the date of this?

Mr. McKenzie. November 8, 1959, sir.

Mr. Dulles. Proceed, if you will.

Mr. McKenzie. Do you mind if I read it, Mr. Jenner, and saving his voice a little bit?

Mr. Jenner. No.

Mr. McKenzie. This I believe is the second letter that Robert received from Russia after he had sent a telegram to Lee telling him what a mistake he had made, and this is the contents of the letter.

"November 8, 1959. Dear Robert:

"Well, what shall we talk about? The weather perhaps? Certainly you do not wish me to speak of my decision to remain in the Soviet Union and apply for citizenship here since I am afraid you would not be able to comprehend my reasons.

"You really don't know anything about me. Do you know, for instance, that I have waited to do this for well over a year? Do you know that I" then there is a parenthesis and some Russian printing which I presume to be Russian and the parenthesis is closed, "speak a fair amount of Russian which I have been studying for many months? I have been told that I will not have to leave the Soviet Union if I did not care to. This then is my decision. I will not leave this country, the Soviet Union under any conditions. I will never return to the United States which is a country I hate. Some day perhaps soon and then again perhaps in a few years I will become a citizen of the Soviet Union, but it is a very legal process in any event. I will not have to leave the Soviet Union and I will never leave.