Oswald's Tale (35 page)

For entertainment, he would go to the theatre or cinema. He liked the Russian National Choir, and most sporting events. He was a big hockey fan and he often watched soccer, but Stepan couldn’t stand boxing—it was face-bashing. He liked to read books so long as his vision was still good. Journals and the daily press as well—that goes without saying. It was part of his job. He saw many films as well:
Cossacks of the Don, Swineherder and Shepherd—
he liked upbeat films, but didn’t go for dramatic situations; they affected his nervous system and got him upset. His passion, however, was fishing. He could say that he is ready to fish anywhere: lakes, rivers, any body of water, winter, summer, any wind or season.

Asked to criticize himself, Stepan would state that, as a person, “I feel I was really too tough with my children. I disciplined them a lot and I think maybe some children need more softness. I am too impatient with certain people. I like it that when people talk, they talk sense. Discreet and brief. But, you know, people are different. Some people want to express themselves more emotionally, and I was not patient. If somebody starts to blab and blab, I interrupt, I direct conversation to what I see as the essence of the matter. But one should be more patient. Not all people are like me.

“On the other hand, when I was devoting all my attention to work, I didn’t always pay attention to important events. I would overlook a colleague’s birthday. As for my wife’s birthday, I would not forget. For decency’s sake, you should make things pleasant, for your wife and for people around you, your co-workers, your family.”

Asked one more time to give his opinion of Oswald’s case, he says it proved to be “primitive—a basic case,” because it did not involve anyone of extreme intelligence. Nor did it cost too much money. Oswald did not have a large circle of friends and was not erratic in his behavior. It wasn’t as if one week he had three friends and by the following week had accumulated twenty so they had to increase their budget immediately to watch twenty people instead of three. No, this case was simple because it did not have variables, it did not fluctuate, and finally there wasn’t much that really raised a lot of new questions.

4

On the Turn of the Year

F
ROM
KGB T
RANSCRIPTS
F
OR
O
BJECT
: OLH-2727 F
OR
P
ERIOD
: 31 D
EC. 61

LHO:
You won’t look good in this dress.

WIFE:
Why?

LHO:
It’s too open.

WIFE:
Where is it open? It’s nice.

LHO:
Doesn’t go.

WIFE:
Now, my shoes are a different matter! They don’t go with this at all . . .

LHO:
You really don’t know how to dress, I swear!

WIFE:
Buy me different shoes.

LHO:
Those are nice shoes.

WIFE:
That’s true. But they’re no good for winter. They’re white. There are winter shoes and summer shoes.

(
LHO goes into the kitchen and comes right back
)

LHO:
Are you going to put on a jacket?

WIFE:
What jacket? I don’t have any jackets. Do you think it’ll make a difference [to the Zigers] if they see that it looks bad?

LHO:
Yes!

WIFE:
It’s a simple dress.

LHO:
No, it’s not nice!

WIFE:
Well, I can’t put this one on. It’s full of holes . . . I don’t know what to wear.

LHO:
Everything will be fine! Everything will be just wonderful.

WIFE:
You know that no one needs me.

LHO:
Jesus, what about Oswald? (
kisses her
) People are going to look at us and say, There’s a handsome pair!

WIFE:
Handsome! (
laughs
) In that case, I’ll go in a skirt and sweater. You’ll just have to be embarrassed. (
pause
) If there were something to wear, I would dress better than you, better than your Americans.

(
they laugh
)

WIFE:
If I had been wearing these shoes when we first met, you wouldn’t have danced with me.

(
they laugh
)

So much had happened to them in a year. We can wonder if at the Zigers’ party that will welcome the arrival of 1962 they will recollect their previous New Year’s Eve. Lee had spent it with Ella and her family; Marina had been with Sasha, then with Konstantin.

Jan. 2

Dear Mother,

Well, I have pretty good [hopes] we shall receive our visas about the middle of February, which means we may arrive in the U.S. about the 1st of March give or take a month or so.

I would like you to do something important for us. Get in touch with the Red Cross in Vernon and ask them to contact an organization called “International Rescue Committee” or any organizations which aid persons from abroad [to] get resettled. There are many such organizations.

We need $800.00 for two tickets from Moscow to New York and from N.Y. to Texas . . . You can tell the Red Cross . . . that both of us have now received Soviet exit visas to leave the Soviet Union . . .

We only need money for the tickets now.

Ask them to contact the American Embassy, Moscow, for information . . . I want you to try to get the money through some organization, and not try to collect it yourself, alone.

Do not, of course, take any loan, only a gift, and don’t send your
own
money . . .

We received your Christmas card with photos. They were very good; both of us enjoyed them very much.

Write soon,
Love,
Lee
¹

On receiving this a couple of weeks later, Marguerite Oswald proceeded to act upon it at once, and would remember every detail when she related the event to the Warren Commission two years later.

MARGUERITE OSWALD.
So when I entered the Vernon Red Cross . . . I told the young lady, showed her the letter and showed her the paper . . .

She said, “What is your son doing in Russia?”

I said, “I don’t know.”

“You are his mother and you don’t know what he is doing in Russia?”

I said, “Young lady, I said I do not know what he is doing in Russia.”

“Well, I think anybody goes to Russia doesn’t need any help to get back, they should stay over there.”

So I said, “I am not interested in your personal opinion. I need help. Would you please contact, give me the address of the International Rescue Committee so I can continue to try to get money for my son to come home?”

She did not know of any address for the International Rescue Committee . . .

Now this young lady [in Vernon Red Cross] was very, very regalish. She didn’t want to help anybody going to Russia. So when . . . I called her at her home and told her that I had the address from the State Department of the International Rescue Committee, and would she be so kind enough to come to the office and write the letter for me.

She said, “Well, Mrs. Oswald, I don’t have a key.”

This is on a Saturday morning and she is in the courthouse.

I said, “Do you mean to tell me you are in charge of the Red Cross and you don’t have a key?”

“No, I don’t.”

“Well, young lady, you have delayed me 4 days and I don’t like your attitude. I am going to ask you especially to make a point to come to the office and get this in the mail for me. It is very important.”

So, reluctantly, after much persuasion, she came.

So she wrote the letter to the International Rescue Committee, and handed it to me, and I mailed the letter—I mailed the letter.
²

5

Pen Pals

January 4

I am called to the [Soviet] Passport Office since my residential passport expires today. Since I now have a U.S. passport in my possession, I am given a totally new residential passport called “Passport for Foreigners” . . . [It’s] good till July 5, 1962.

They are so confident they will be able to leave in a few weeks. He will have his new passport, she has her exit visa; his mother will convince some charitable American organization to give them a gift. Maybe they can even travel before their baby is born. When you push a wall and the wall begins to move, it is natural to be optimistic.

Shocks await them. Bureaucratic snags. Questions about his defection begin to circulate in inter-office memos at State. Concerns arise in the Department of Justice: Are they being asked to aid an American Communist and his Soviet wife? And who will guarantee support for Marina?

Letters circulate through January and early February 1962. Oswald will send three to the Embassy in Moscow before the month is out, and two to the International Rescue Committee. He writes seven letters to his mother in the next two months and four to Robert Oswald; he receives six letters from the American Embassy in the same two months. In Washington, over the preceding two years, inter-office memos concerning him have been passing back and forth at the State Department, more than ten in 1959 and early 1960, twenty or more in the last year. A certain division of opinion has developed at State on whether Oswald is to be helped in this repatriation project. It cannot be said that the arrogance he exhibits in his letters proves endearing to American officials, but who is to say that his tactics are not effective?

January 5, 1962

Dear Sirs:

. . . As I have already informed the Embassy, [Soviet] exit visas for myself and my wife have already been granted. I can have mine at any time, but it will be good for 45 days only. Since I and my wife wish to leave the USSR together, I shall delay requesting my visa until such time as documentation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the USSR and the American Embassy is completed on my wife . . .

I would like to make arrangements for a loan from the Embassy or some organization for part of the plane fare. Please look into this and notify me.

Yours truly,
Lee H. Oswald
¹

Samuel G. Wise, who has replaced Richard Snyder, now replies to Oswald on January 15, 1962.

Dear Mr. Oswald:

. . . The petition which you filed to classify your wife’s visa status has not yet been approved by the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Moreover, evidence required by law to show that your wife will not become a public charge in the United States has not been presented to the Embassy. One possibility, in this regard, would be for your mother or some other close relative in the United States to file an affidavit of support in your wife’s behalf . . . .

In view of these circumstances, you may wish to reconsider your decision to defer your departure until Mrs. Oswald’s documentation is complete, particularly inasmuch as it may prove difficult to provide the necessary financial support evidence while you are still in the USSR. Please inform us of your intentions in this matter.

The question which you raise of a loan to defray part of your travel expenses to the United States can be discussed when you come to the Embassy . . .
²

Oswald has to know that requesting a loan from the State Department will slow his progress. Yet, if the State Department is willing to lend him money, then it is probable they expect no prosecution against him.

January 16, 1962

Dear Sirs,

In reply to your informative letter of January 5 . . . I hope you will inform me of any other documents that are needed and not wait until the last minute . . .

You suggest that because of the documentation necessary I go to the United States alone.

I certainly will not consider going to the U.S. alone for any reason, particularly since it appears my passport will be confiscated upon my arrival in the United States.

I would like for all documentation to be completed at or by the Embassy in Moscow.

We have not had an easy time getting our exit visas from the Soviet authorities, as the Embassy well knows. I would not like this whole thing repeated because of a lack of this or that on anybody’s part. I’m sure you understand.

Also, we will have a child in March, and although the Russian processing in this case will be to write in age, sex, and place of birth on my wife’s travel passport (a process of four days in Moscow), I would like to know what you will require in this event.

Sincerely,
Lee H. Oswald.
³

We may be encountering Oswald’s profound anxiety about returning to America. To account for his zeal to go back with Marina—and never without her—let us provide him with more than one motive. The side of him that is always ready to calculate his situation would probably judge that it is safer not to go back alone. His wife and newborn child are bound to produce some sympathy for him in America.

This does not have to be, of course, his only consideration. If he and Marina are having their difficulties, he is even more miserable at the thought of living without her. And he does have to wonder whether she will love him enough to join him once he is far away. In any case, he will not leave without her.

Joseph B. Norbury, another Consul at the Embassy, replies on January 24:

Dear Mr. Oswald:

. . . Regarding the visa petition for your wife, we are attempting to get an early decision from the Immigration and Naturalization Service . . . You may be sure that this question will be fully explored. Meanwhile, I cannot urge you strongly enough to attempt to obtain a support affadavit from a close relative in the United States, in order to insure that your wife will be able to travel with you . . .
⁴

State sends another Operations Memo, on January 26, to the Embassy.

The petition, check and marriage certificate submitted by Mr. Oswald . . . were forwarded for approval to the Dallas District Office of the Immigration and Naturalization Service on October 6, 1961. No reply has been received to date . . . Pending the completion of that investigation, neither the approval of the petition nor the waiver of the 243 (g) sanctions can be granted . . .
⁵

We now have a new bureaucratic term to contend with:
the waiver of the 243 (g) sanctions
. That will account for most of the delay of the next four months. Sanction 243 (g) is designed to keep out immigrants departing from the Soviet Union, and so if it is not waived, then the Oswalds will have to go from the USSR to some sanction-free country, like Belgium. There, Marina can apply for a visa to the U.S. It could take an extra week, it could take a month, and the Oswalds have no money; the State Department, therefore, anticipates added expenses, and much added difficulty with Oswald. So, they do not tell him that the waiver of the 243 (g) sanction has not only not been granted but, indeed, might not be. The State Department does not have jurisdiction over the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which is a branch of the Department of Justice. Communications between officials from each department will go on, therefore, for months, and Oswald will not be kept informed of this problem. All the same, he seems to sense that something is out of place:

January 23, 62

Dear Mother,

Please do me a big favor, go to the nearest office of the “Immigration and Naturalization offices” and file an “affidavit of support” on behalf of my wife, this is a technical point in regards to permission to enter the U.S. for Marina, and must be made in the U.S. You simply fill out a blank (there may be a charge of a few dollars) and that’s all.

Please do this now, as they are actually waiting for this document in Moscow . . .

Thanks
Love Lee
⁶

He then asks Robert to perform a scouting mission:

January 30, 1962

Dear Robert,

. . . You once said that you asked around about whether or not the U.S. government had any charges against me. You said at that time “No.” Maybe you should ask around again. It’s possible now that the government knows I’m coming, they’ll have something waiting . . .

Your brother,
Lee
⁷

On January 31, Joseph Norbury writes again to Oswald:

. . . Although the Embassy is making every effort to complete action on your wife’s visa application as soon as possible, it seems highly unlikely that the visa can be issued in time to permit her to travel before your child is born. Most airlines will not accept passengers during the ninth month of pregnancy. Therefore, it would seem advisable for you to plan for the baby to be born before you leave for the United States.
⁸

A week later, the waiver of sanctions is denied by J. W. Holland of the Travel Control Central Office in San Antonio.

Marguerite, meanwhile, is attempting to be creative in the art of raising money, and she is also being denied.

February 1, 1962

Dear Mrs. Oswald:

. . . Concerning your suggestion that you make your son’s story public with an appeal for help, although the [State] Department is not in a position to advise you on this matter, it is not believed this would offer a solution to his problem.

Sincerely yours,
George H. Haselton,
Chief, Protection and Representation Division
⁹

Feb. 1, 1962

Dear Mother,

. . . I don’t know if giving the story to the newspapers is too good, maybe you’d better hold off for awhile about that. I’ll tell you when . . .

. . . I want you to understand that although you can aid us in certain, small ways, this business about our coming to the U.S. is relatively simple. Don’t make it more complicated than it is . . .

Lee
¹⁰

Now at State they decide that there is only one way to disembarrass themselves of their most prominent petitioner. On February 6, Norbury writes to Oswald from the Embassy.

. . . We are prepared to take your application for a loan. [However] the recipient must keep the Department of State informed of his address in the United States until such time as he has liquidated his indebtedness. After repatriation, the recipient will not be furnished a passport for travel abroad until he has reimbursed the Government . . .
¹¹

Feb. 9, 1962

Dear Mother

Well, it won’t be long now until the baby is born and until we shall be seeing you . . .

Also you can see about sending me some clippings or columns from the Ft. Worth papers for the month of Nov. 1959. I want to know just what was said about me in the Ft. Worth newspapers so I can be forewarned. If you don’t have clippings yourself, you can always get back issues of newspapers . . . at their offices or the public library . . .

Love from us both,
Lee
¹²