Mr. Redlich. You were not aware?
Mr. Martin. Not aware, no.
Mr. Redlich. The witness has offered to, has presented to, the Commission a newspaper story appearing in the Buffalo Evening News, December 7, 1963, headline of which reads, "Oswald's Widow Reported Hoping to be U.S. Citizen."
This story has been identified as Commission Exhibit No. 330 and I ask that it be introduced in evidence.
Mr. Dulles. Any objection?
Mr. Leech. None.
Mr. Dulles. Accepted.
(The newspaper article referred to was marked Commission's Exhibit No. 330 for identification and received in evidence.)
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, I show you Commission's Exhibit No. 330 and ask you if it is inaccurate in any respect to the best of your knowledge?
Mr. Martin. In the second paragraph it says, "Mrs. Oswald, 23," which is inaccurate—"Russian-born Mother of Three—"
Mr. Redlich. Will you state the inaccuracy?
Mr. Martin. The age is inaccurate. She is 22, "Russian-born Mother of Three" that is inaccurate. She is the mother of two, "burst into tears when she learned at least $7,700 had been sent to her by sympathetic Americans."
There was no burst of tears.
Mr. Redlich. Will you tell the Commission what the reaction was?
Mr. Martin. I would say of happiness rather than—she was glad that that was there, which is normal.
Mr. Redlich. Do you recall anything she told you?
Mr. Martin. No. This was December 7. No, I have no recollection of anything that she said?
Mr. Dulles. Didn't you testify before, maybe it is with regard to another or similar clipping, that she had some reference to the silly Americans who were giving this money?
Mr. Martin. Well, it was a comment she had made at sometime or another. I don't know whether it was during this particular thing or not. I think it was further on.
Mr. Dulles. On a similar occasion?
Mr. Martin. A little later date, yes.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, you have commented on the respects in which the newspaper clippings were at variance with the facts about Marina Oswald as you knew them.
Are there any other facts which perhaps were not reflected in these clippings but which you might be aware of in respect to which the public image of Marina Oswald differed from the true person that you knew on the basis of your contact with her?
Mr. Martin. No. Of course, she is not the least bit frugal. She spends money quite freely, which it is her money to spend, but it won't last very long at the rate it is going.
Mr. Redlich. In connection with that did Marina Oswald ever discuss with you the financial difficulties she may have encountered while she was married to Lee Oswald?
Mr. Martin. Yes. She remarked one time that she had always wished for $500 just to do with as she wanted. She also mentioned that the small amount of money that it took them to live upon. She said it ran between $130 and $135 a month.
Representative Ford. Did she complain about this limited amount?
Mr. Martin. No. I asked her how she could live on that little and she said well, all they had was rent and food, and occasionally she would get a dress or get a pair of shoes. She said that she didn't object to it.
Representative Ford. But when more money became available she found ways and means of spending it?
Mr. Martin. Yes. Well, she mentioned one time to me that—I told her she was spending too much money, and she said, "Well, when it is all gone I will go to work." That is——
Mr. Dulles. That is a little Russian, may I say for the record.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, this Commission has recovered information to the effect that the public announcements which you made concerning the amount of funds which had been collected on Marina Oswald's behalf actually reflected figures that were less than the amount which had actually been collected on her behalf.
Without getting into specific figures at this time, are these reports correct in your opinion?
Mr. Martin. Which report?
Mr. Redlich. The report——
Mr. Martin. Oh, yes, we were obtaining a smaller figure, that is true.
Mr. Redlich. That is true. Did you consult with Marina Oswald on this policy on reporting to the press a lesser figure than had actually been collected?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. What was your reason for doing it?
Mr. Martin. To—well, the money she had collected was considerable, and most people in their life don't accumulate that much money in their entire lifetime.
What we were trying to do for her was to build enough of a—enough capital to furnish her from the interest a steady income. And by keeping the figure down figured it would increase.
Mr. Redlich. I don't want to put words in your mouth. Could you be a little more specific about your reason?
Mr. Martin. Well, so people would keep contributing to her cause.
Mr. Redlich. And she was in accord with this policy of keeping the public amount at a low figure so that people would contribute to her cause?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. I would like to revert to a point that you made this morning to clear up the record. You said that you left your job at the Six Flags Inn Motel because of your obligations to Marina Oswald. Did you leave the job voluntarily or were you fired?
Mr. Martin. I left voluntarily. I actually left on the 15th of December, and I had a week's vacation coming, they gave me that which paid me to the 1st of January.
Mr. Redlich. When you met Mrs. Oswald in late November and in your conversations with her at that time, did she discuss with you the fact of her husband's trip to Mexico?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. Are you now——
Mr. Martin. She did at a later date, sometime in January before she went to the Commission.
Mr. Redlich. When did you first learn of Lee Oswald's trip to Mexico?
Mr. Martin. I guess it was from newspaper accounts.
Mr. Redlich. When you read it in the newspapers did you ask Marina about it?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Redlich. What prompted you to discuss with Marina in January the question of her knowledge about it?
Mr. Martin. Let's see—she told me when the FBI was questioning her one day, she told me that they had information that he had attempted suicide, and that particular day she didn't want to see the FBI at all, and she was a little bit unhappy with them and I just asked her what else did she learn.
Mr. Redlich. Who else was present at this conversation?
Mr. Martin. I don't think anybody.
Mr. Redlich. Just you and Mrs. Oswald?
Mr. Dulles. Who was this who had attempted suicide, I didn't catch that?
Mr. Martin. Lee Harvey Oswald.
Mr. Dulles. At what time?
Mr. Martin. That was in Russia sometime before, I think before he met her.
Mr. Dulles. And she said she had heard this from the FBI or the FBI had asked her about it?
Mr. Martin. The FBI had read, I think, in his manuscript that he had attempted suicide.
Mr. Dulles. And they asked her about it?
Mr.