It seems to me that there was a holiday on that day, on the 8th—elections—were there elections on that day?
Mr. Rankin. Are you thinking of November 11th, Veterans Day?
Mrs. Oswald. I remember that day exactly. We didn't go anywhere on that Saturday.
Mr. Rankin. Did you and your husband buy groceries in Irving some place?
Mrs. Oswald. Not always. Sometimes we would go together with Ruth and buy a few things.
Mr. Rankin. Do you remember the Hutch's Supermarket, owned by Mr. Hutchison?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever shop there with your husband?
Mrs. Oswald. We never went just Lee and I.
Mr. Rankin. Did the three of you—Mrs. Paine and you and your husband go together to shop?
Mrs. Oswald. And her children.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband try to cash checks at the Hutch's market?
Mrs. Oswald. He may have tried to cash checks sometimes when he received unemployment compensation.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall that he tried to cash a check of $189 at this market?
Mrs. Oswald. He didn't have such a check.
Mr. Rankin. As far as you know, he didn't try to cash a check of that size at this market?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember this market. I do remember one time when Lee wanted to cash a check, but it was $33.
Mr. Rankin. Is that the only time that you recall he tried to cash a check?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Are you speaking of a store in Dallas or in Irving?
Mr. Rankin. It is in Irving.
Mrs. Oswald. Then I understand it. Because in Dallas I could not have been with him.
The Chairman. The hour of adjournment has arrived. So we will adjourn now until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
(Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the President's Commission adjourned.)
Wednesday, February 5, 1964
TESTIMONY OF MRS. LEE HARVEY OSWALD RESUMED
The President's Commission met at 10 a.m., on February 5, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C.
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman; Senator Richard B. Russell, Senator John Sherman Cooper, Representative Hale Boggs, Representative Gerald R. Ford, Allen W. Dulles, members.
Also present were J. Lee Rankin, general counsel; Norman Redlich, assistant counsel; Leon I. Gopadze and William D. Krimer, interpreters; John M. Thorne, attorney for Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald; and Ruben Efron.
The Chairman. The Commission will be in order. We will continue with the examination. Mr. Rankin, you may proceed.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald, have you become familiar with the English language to some extent?
Mrs. Oswald. I have never studied it, but simple language I do understand.
Mr. Rankin. We had reports that you made some study at the Southern Methodist University. Is there anything to that?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. How about Mr. Gregory? Did you study English with him?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did you have any formal aid or teaching of English by anyone?
Mrs. Oswald. I had no formal instructions in it, but a Russian acquaintance, Mr. Bouhe, wrote down some Russian phrases, and I would try to translate them into English.
Mr. Rankin. Now, since you have been living with the Martins, I assume you haven't had any Russian friends to try to translate English for you, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. If you do not count Mr. Gopadze and the FBI interpreter, I have not been in contact with any Russians.
Mr. Rankin. And there were considerable periods during the time you have been living with the Martins when neither Mr. Gopadze or the FBI agent or translator were present, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. So have you been able to learn a little more English while you have been with the Martins than you had before, because of that experience?
Mrs. Oswald. Only a little, I think.
At least it is very useful for me to live with an American family who do not speak Russian.
Mr. Rankin. That has helped you to learn some English, more than when you were living with Mrs. Paine, who could speak Russian to you, I take it.
Mrs. Oswald. Of course.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know any French?
Mrs. Oswald. No. Other than Russian, I don't know any other language.
Mr. Rankin. Now, when you were with the Martins the Secret Service people were there, too, were they not?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, they helped me a great deal.
Mr. Rankin. Did you object to the Secret Service people being there?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did they treat you properly?
Mrs. Oswald. Excellently—very well.
Mr. Rankin. Did you object to their being around and looking out for you as they did?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. How did the Martins treat you during the time you have been with them?
Mrs. Oswald. Better than I—could have been expected.
Mr. Rankin. Have you been pleased with the way they have treated you?
Mrs. Oswald. I am very pleased and I am very grateful to them.
Mr. Rankin. Now, Mr. Thorne is your attorney. I understand that he told the Civil Liberties Union people of Dallas it was all right for the Secret Service people to be there with you and that you liked that arrangement and did not want to be interfered with. Was that satisfactory to you?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, that is correct.
Mr. Rankin. Was he speaking for you when he said that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, because I received a letter from Mr. Olds, a leader of that union. In that letter he said that he sympathizes with my situation, that he supposed that the Secret Service treated me very badly and stopped me from doing something.
I answered him in a letter written in Russian which was later translated into English that all of this was not the truth.
Mr. Rankin. Did you feel any restraint or that you were being forced to do anything there while you were at the Martins that was not satisfactory to you?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I was not forced to do anything that I did not want to.
Mr. Rankin. Anybody that tried to see you that you wanted to see during that time or from that time up to the present—I withdraw that.
Was anyone who you wished to see or wanted to see you that you were willing to see kept from seeing you at that time or up to the present?
Mrs. Oswald. Generally some people wanted to talk to me but they couldn't do so simply because I did not want to.
Mr. Rankin. And was that always the case, whenever you didn't talk to someone during that period of time?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Everything depended only on