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

"I received your telegram and I was glad to hear from you. Only one word bothered me. The word 'mistake' I assume you mean that I have made a 'mistake.' It is not for you to tell me this. You cannot understand my reasons for this very serious action. I will not speak to anyone from the United States over the telephone since it might be tapped by the Americans. If you wish to correspond with me you can write to the below address, but I really don't see what we could talk about. If you want to send me some money that I can use but I do not expect to be able to pay it back."

Then it is signed "Lee", and then over to the left-hand side on the bottom of the page it says, "Lee Harvey Oswald, Metropole Hotel, Room 233, Moscow, USSR," and then underneath some writing in Russian, which I take to be Russian, which is scratched out.

Mr. Jenner. Thank you.

Mr. McKenzie, you have stated that this was the second letter that had been received by Mr. Robert Oswald following Lee Harvey Oswald's taking up residence in Russia. Is that correct, Mr. Oswald?

Mr. McKenzie. I said it is the second or third letter. I don't know exactly.

Mr. Oswald. I believe, sir, it is the first letter, if I may have a moment here.

Mr. Jenner. I thought it was the first.

Mr. McKenzie. There is one other letter here from Santa Ana, Calif.

Mr. Jenner. That was earlier.

Mr. Oswald. This was the first letter Lee had written to me from Russia.

Mr. Dulles. Could you refresh my memory as to the date of his arrival in Russia?

Mr. Oswald. October 13.

Mr. Dulles. October 13.

Mr. Oswald. 1959.

Mr. Dulles. And this was——

Mr. Jenner. November 8.

Mr. Dulles. November 8. He had been there about 3 weeks.

Mr. Oswald. The first time I was aware he was in Russia was on Halloween Day 1959, October 31.

Mr. Dulles. Thank you.

Mr. Jenner. My attention is arrested to that portion of the letter in which there appears to be a reference to a telegram which you had previously sent him.

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Had you sent him such a telegram?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; I had.

Mr. Jenner. What impelled you or induced you to do that? What event, stimulation?

Mr. Oswald. After we were notified that Lee was in Russia.

Mr. Jenner. Who notified you?

Mr. Oswald. Star Telegram reporter in Fort Worth, Tex. Later on that same day there was quite a few newspaper reporters out to my house. I first objected to speaking to them until they stated that perhaps if we cooperated with them they would perhaps be the only source of information—that they could relay to us when they received anything about what Lee was doing, and so forth, and I agreed to talk to them.

After this interview with three or four newspaper reporters they had left the house, and another man, I do not recall his name, from the Star Telegram in Fort Worth, came to the house, and I spoke with him, and I believe at this time he suggested that it would not be wise because I was asking what did he think as to how I might contact Lee, and he suggested a letter—pardon me, a telegram, to Secretary of State Christian Herter, and a telegram to Lee.

I called the Western Union and sent telegrams, and at this time——

Mr. Jenner. Excuse me, sir, telegrams, you sent one to Mr. Herter and one to your brother?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; sent two. At this time I advised the reporter of the contents of the telegram. I did not receive confirmation of these telegrams from Western Union.

Mr. Jenner. I take it from that you do not have copies?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir.

However, they are printed in their entirety in the next edition of the Star Telegram, which I believe would be November 1st edition.

Mr. Jenner. November 1, 1959?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Would you please state to the best of your present recollection what your instruction by way of message was to the Western Union?

Mr. Oswald. In the telegram to Secretary of State Christian Herter, I requested his assistance in contacting Lee Oswald through any means available.

Mr. Jenner. Did you indicate for what purpose, sir?

Mr. Oswald. I don't believe I did, sir.

And the telegram to Lee Harvey Oswald, I asked him to contact me through any means available. I did use the word "mistake."

Mr. Jenner. Would you please give me your best recollection of the message, as you recall it, that you dispatched or ordered dispatched?

Mr. Oswald. My best recollection of that is I sent the telegram to Lee Harvey Oswald care of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow, Russia, requesting Lee to contact me through any means available, and the one word "mistake. Keep your nose clean," signed "Robert L. Oswald, 7313 Davenport."

Mr. Jenner. The word "mistake" was by itself?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct. The phrase of "keep your nose clean," is something we have said to each other since knee high, so he would know that I did send the telegram.

Mr. Jenner. Did you receive a response to that telegram?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not receive a response to either one of the telegrams.

Mr. Jenner. Neither from the State Department, Mr. Herter, nor an assistant on that telegram, nor from your brother Lee on his telegram?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Other than the letter of November 8, 1959, now identified as Commission Exhibit No. 294?

Mr. Oswald. That is correct, sir.

Mr. Jenner. It is the first word you had from him in which he acknowledges or made plain that he had received the telegram?

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

Mr. Dulles. Excuse me, has 294 been submitted?

Mr. Jenner. I think it has not. May I offer in evidence as Commission Exhibit 294 the document that has been so identified.

Mr. Dulles. Accepted.

(The document heretofore marked Commission Exhibit No. 294 was received in evidence.)

Mr. Jenner. It being understood with Mr. McKenzie that we may introduce in evidence the photostatic copy in lieu of the original, the original having been produced before the Commission.

Mr. McKenzie. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Did you speak, did you have any conversation with your brother upon his return from Russia respecting your dispatch of the telegram and his reaction to it?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not. I had more or less forgotten it myself.

Mr. Jenner. There is a reference in your brother's letter of November 8 to his reluctance to engage in a telephone conversation. Had you attempted to reach him by telephone?

Mr. Oswald. I had decided to try to reach him by telephone on Sunday, November 1, 1959. I did not.

Mr. Jenner. You were unable to, you mean?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not. I placed the call and I received the New York operator, overseas operator, and there was some discussion as to what time it was in Moscow, and so forth, and I changed my mind and did not. However, I am aware that my mother tried and did for a moment have Lee on the telephone in Moscow.

Mr. Jenner. At that time?

Mr. Oswald. At approximately that same date.

Mr. Jenner. Did you ever make any effort to reach him by telephone thereafter?

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

Mr. Jenner. Did he reach you by telephone or attempt to do so as far as you know?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; not to my knowledge did he.

Mr. Jenner. There is a reference in the letter of November 8 to his willingness to accept money from you if you would send any. Did you send him any money?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I did not. My reply to that was if he used it to come back I would gladly send it.

Mr. Jenner. Your reply—did you write him a letter?

Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.

Mr. Jenner. Do you have a copy of that letter?

Mr. Oswald. No, sir; I do not have a copy of any letter that I wrote to him.