Oswald's Tale (39 page)

2

Homecoming

REPRESENTATIVE FORD.
When he did return, after having borrowed money from the Federal Government, did he ever ask you for any help and assistance in repaying the loan?

ROBERT OSWALD.
On his arrival in New York City, I believe the date to be June 13, back in 1962, my wife received a telephone call from Special Services Welfare Center located at New York City stating that Lee and his family were present and that they needed funds to reach their destination, Fort Worth, Tex., and the lady that talked to my wife put it to the extent they were unable to help them and if some member of the family was going to help them, they had better do so then. My wife didn’t know anything else to say but of course that we would, and this is what I wanted her to say. She called me at my office that day [and] I wired the money to the welfare bureau in New York, care of Lee Harvey Oswald.

REPRESENTATIVE FORD.
And that was the money that they, Marina and Lee, used to get to Fort Worth.

ROBERT OSWALD.
That is correct, sir.

REPRESENTATIVE FORD.
Did Lee ever repay you for that?

ROBERT OSWALD.
Yes, sir; he did. He had actually spent a little over $100 for the plane tickets and, of course, we met him at Dallas, Love Field, on their arrival there. The next day, even though I insisted he keep it, he returned what he had left from the $200 and he said he would pay me back as soon as he was able to and I told him not to worry about that, but just to take his time [and] he repaid this $10–$20 a week from his paycheck.
¹

From Marina’s narrative:
. . . I remember that we took a short rest in Atlanta for several minutes while the airplane was being readied for its further flight. We went out to take a breath of fresh air. And people were eyeing us askance. I cannot boast about the way we were dressed. And even June was dressed in Russian style. In Russia, children’s . . . arms and legs are wrapped in diapers . . . the result being that they look something like an Egyptian mummy. I am looking at myself now with different eyes and think what a comical sight we must have been then.

In Dallas we were met by Robert and his family. I was very ashamed of how sloppy we looked. We were both very tired from the trip and didn’t have anything very good to wear anyway, not to speak of the way my hair must have looked. I am afraid that Robert also was ashamed of having such a relative as myself. But they are very good people and did not say anything to me; quite to the contrary, they helped me get used to the new country. Their very delicate approach to me and to our whole family immediately gave me a very good impression of Americans [even if] I felt quite out of place . . .
²

REPRESENTATIVE BOGGS.
Was the relationship between your family and your wife and Mrs. Oswald . . . pleasant?

ROBERT OSWALD.
Yes, sir. I would describe it as very pleasant . . . my wife and I both were just tickled to death, so to speak, for an opportunity to be with somebody like Marina and to show her things she had never seen before.
³

From Marina’s narrative:
I remember that Robert suggested that I exchange my dress for shorts, since it is very warm in Texas in the summer. This was a revolution for me. Up until then I had only seen in the movies how American girls simply walk around the streets in shorts . . .

Robert showed me the American stores and I was delighted that everything was so simple, and that there were so many things which I had only dreamed of . . . I immediately liked the many neon advertisements. Perhaps Americans are used to them and pay no attention to them. But for me they were unusual—these gay, many-colored lights in the windows and advertisements made me feel good . . .
⁴

MR. JENNER.
. . . what did you observe, and if in contrast, by way of contrast, in his physical appearance and demeanor as against the last time you had seen him, in 1959?

ROBERT OSWALD.
His appearance had changed to the extent that he had lost a considerable amount of hair [and he] appeared the first couple of days upon his return, June 14, 1962, to be rather tense and anxious . . .

MR. JENNER.
Did he make any comments when you met him at Love Field, and did you ride in with him from Love Field to your home?

ROBERT OSWALD.
Yes, sir. We were in my personal car, my wife and my children were with me. We met him and his wife and his baby. He seemed, perhaps the word is, disappointed, when there were no newspaper reporters around. He did comment on this . . . I believe his comment was something [like,] “What, no photographers or anything?”

I said, “No, I have been able to keep it quiet.”

MR. JENNER.
And where was that remark made?

ROBERT OSWALD.
At Love Field, as they came through the gate . . .

MR. JENNER.
Having in mind the changes in physical appearance, and also the course of events since the day of his arrival at Love Field to the present time, have you formed an opinion, Mr. Oswald, as to whether your brother may have undergone some treatment of some kind in Russia that affected his mind?

ROBERT OSWALD.
Yes, sir. Since Lee’s death on November 24th, I have formed an opinion in that respect.

MR. JENNER.
What is that opinion?

ROBERT OSWALD.
. . . perhaps something in the nature of shock treatments or something along that line had been given to him in Russia . . .
⁵

Let us move from the fraternal to the maternal:

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
. . . I was on a case in Crowell, Texas . . . And I was taking care of a very elderly woman whose daughter lived in Fort Worth, Texas.

So I was not able to leave and meet Lee.

Robert, his brother, met him and Lee went to Robert’s home.

Approximately about a week later—I could not stand it anymore—I . . . took 3 days off and went to Fort Worth to see Lee and Marina.

Marina is a beautiful girl. And I said to Lee, “Marina, she doesn’t look Russian. She is beautiful.”

He says, “Of course not. That is why I married her, because she looks like an American girl.”

I asked where he had met her, and he said . . . at a social function, a community function.

I said, “You know, Lee, I am getting ready”—I was getting ready—“to write a book on your so-called defection.” . . .

He said, “Mother, you are not going to write a book.”

I said, “Lee, don’t tell me what to do . . . It has nothing to do with you and Marina. It is my life, because of your defection.”

He said, “Mother, I tell you you are not to write the book. They could kill her and her family.” . . .

While I was in Robert’s home, Lee was immediately out job-hunting. And I felt very bad about that, because . . . I thought he should have at least a week or two before he would look for work.

But I want you to know that immediately Lee was out looking for work.

And this is the time that Lee had gone to the public stenographer, made the statement that he was writing a book . . . I, myself, gave him the $10 that he gave the public stenographer.
⁶

MRS. BATES.
I think it was around 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock in the morning, on the 18th of June, 1962 . . . He just walked in . . . He said, “First, I want to find out what your prices are and see if I can afford it.” So I gave him my price . . . I said it was either 2 and a half an hour or a dollar a page [and] he brought out this large manila envelope, legal size—oh, I think it was 10 by 14 or something—one of those large ones. And he said . . . that he had notes that he had smuggled out of Russia. And I looked up at him kind of surprised. I said, “Have you been to Russia?”

He said, “Yes, ma’am. I just got back.” And that he had smuggled these notes out of Russia under his clothes, next to his skin . . .

And that he wanted to have them typed by a professional typist. He said, “Some of them are typed on a little portable, some of them are handwritten in ink, some of them in pencil.”

He said, “I’ll have to sit right here and help you with them because some of them are in Russian and some of them are in English.” So we agreed that I would do it—but I hadn’t seen them yet . . .

MR. JENNER.
Had you reached a conclusion as to the rate?

MRS. BATES.
Well, I immediately lowered it to $2 an hour. I was anxious to get on it.

MR. JENNER.
Why . . . ?

MRS. BATES.
Well, anybody that had just come back from Russia and had notes, I would like to have seen them. And . . . he looked like a high school kid to me when he first came in. I thought he was just a kid . . .

MR. JENNER.
Now, give me your best recollection of everything that was said on that occasion . . .

MRS. BATES.
. . . I asked him how come he had gone to Russia. I said, “It can’t be very easy. How did you arrange it? Why did you want to go?” . . . He wasn’t very talkative. And whenever I did get him to talk, I had to drag it out of him . . .

He said that the State Department had finally agreed to let him go over, but they would not be responsible for him . . . in case he got in trouble or anything.

So, he went. And that’s all I got out of him . . .

And then we got busy and he opened this large package and he brought out his notes. And, as I said, they were on scraps of paper not even this big, some of them [indicating with finger] and some of them large pieces of paper, some of them were typed, some of them handwritten in ink and pencil. And he said that he had had to just do it when he could. And it was about the living conditions and the working conditions in Russia . . .

MR. JENNER.
Did he say when he had prepared these notes? . . .

MRS. BATES.
They were all done in Russia. And he smuggled them out of Russia. And he said that the whole time until they got over the border, [he and his wife] were scared to death . . .

MR. JENNER.
Did he imply that Marina was aware that he had these notes?

MRS. BATES.
He didn’t say. He just mentioned his wife once or twice in the 3 days he was up there . . .

MR. JENNER.
Did he spend substantially all day with you?

MRS. BATES.
No, it was 8 hours altogether in the 3 days . . . . I spent 8 hours typing 10 pages, single-spaced.

MR. JENNER.
Which would indicate to me, as a lawyer, that you were having some trouble interpreting these notes?

MRS. BATES.
. . . A lot of it was scribbled . . . he just had to . . . muffle the tone of the typewriter . . . so people wouldn’t know that he was—what he was doing . . . he said [his wife] would cover or watch for him . . . I tell you [those notes] were fascinating to read. “Inside Russia”—was what it was . . .

MR. JENNER.
Did you type all of his notes?

MRS. BATES.
No; not even a third of them.

MR. JENNER.
Tell me that circumstance.

MRS. BATES.
Well, on the 20th he came up and he was—uh—quite nervous. Um—the other 2 days he’d sit right there at my desk and—uh—if I needed to ask him anything, why, I would. But, this day, he was walking up and down and looking over my shoulder and wanting to know where I was—and, finally, I finished the 10th page. He said, “Now, Pauline, you told me what your charges were.” He said, “This is 8 hours you’ve worked and 10 pages. I have $10 and no more money. I can’t let you go on.”

And that’s when I asked him if I couldn’t go on and type the rest of them. I told him I’d do it for nothing, or if he got the money, why, he could pay me.

And he said, “No, I don’t work that way. I’ve got $10.” And he pulled a $10 bill out of his pocket and walked out.

MR. JENNER.
Were you in possession of these notes from day to day or did he take them back with him at night?

MRS. BATES.
Oh, he took them with him. He never left anything. And he never left the office until he had picked up what I had typed—even the carbon paper.

MR. JENNER.
Even the carbon paper?

MRS. BATES.
Oh, yes, he took the carbon paper . . . he had the deadest eyes I ever saw.
⁷

Had he begun to mistrust Pauline Bates and her interest? If he was feeling paranoid, his suspicions would hardly have been relieved when in the following week the FBI asked him to come by their office for an interview.