Mr. Rankin. And whenever you did want to talk to someone or see someone, you were always able to do that, were you?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, I did meet with Katya Ford, my former Russian friend.
Mr. Rankin. And you were always able to meet with anyone that you wanted to, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Now, it has been claimed that Mrs. Ruth Paine tried to see you at various times and was unable to do so. Can you tell us about that?
Mrs. Oswald. She is trying very hard to come to see me, but I have no desire to meet with her. I think that she is trying to do that for herself, rather than for me.
Mr. Rankin. And whenever you have refused to see her when she tries to see you, that is because you didn't want to see her yourself, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. What about the newspaper and television and radio people? Have some of those tried to see you while you were at the Martins?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, they have tried.
Mr. Rankin. And have you done anything about their efforts to see you?
Mrs. Oswald. I never wanted to be popular in such a bad sense in which I am now, and therefore I didn't want to see them. But I did have a television interview in which I said that I am relatively satisfied with my situation, that I am not too worried and I thanked people for their attention towards me.
Mr. Rankin. Will you describe to us your relationship with your mother-in-law now?
Mrs. Oswald. After all of this happened I met with her at the police station. I was, of course, very sorry for her as Lee's mother. I was always sorry for her because Lee did not want to live with her.
I understood her motherly concern. But in view of the fact of everything that happened later, her appearances in the radio, in the press, I do not think that she is a very sound thinking woman, and I think that part of the guilt is hers. I do not accuse her, but I think that part of the guilt in connection with what happened with Lee lies with her because he did not perhaps receive the education he should have during his childhood, and he did not have any correct leadership on her part, guidance. If she were in contact with my children now, I do not want her to cripple them.
Mr. Rankin. Has she tried to see you since the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, all the time.
Mr. Rankin. And have you seen her since that time?
Mrs. Oswald. Accidentally we met at the cemetery on a Sunday when I visited there, but I didn't want to meet with her, and I left. She didn't understand that I didn't want to meet with her and she accused the Secret Service personnel of preventing her from seeing me.
Mr. Rankin. Except for the time at the jail and at the cemetery, have you seen her since the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. At the time you did see your mother-in-law, did you observe any difference in her attitude towards you?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, of course.
Mr. Rankin. Will you describe that difference that you observed?
Mrs. Oswald. At first I said that I didn't see her any more. But after Lee was in jail I lived with her for some time at that inn.
Mr. Rankin. The Six Flags?
Mrs. Oswald. The Six Flags. And inasmuch as I lived with her and met with her every day I could see—I was able to see the change. At least if her relationship with me was good, it was not sincere. I think that she does not like me. I don't think that she simply is able to like me.
There were some violent scenes, she didn't want to listen to anyone, there were hysterics. Everyone was guilty of everything and no one understood her.
Perhaps my opinion is wrong, but at least I do not want to live with her and to listen to scandals every day.
Mr. Rankin. Did she say anything to indicate that she blamed you in connection with the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. No, she did not accuse me of anything.
Mr. Rankin. In your presence, at any time, did she accuse Ruth Paine of being involved in causing the assassination or being directly involved?
Mrs. Oswald. No, she never accused Ruth Paine. She simply did not like her.
Mr. Rankin. Did she tell you why she didn't like Ruth Paine?
Mrs. Oswald. She told me but I didn't understand it because it was in English. She expresses more by rather stormy mimicry, thinking that that would get across and I would understand.
Mr. Rankin. You said that you didn't want to see Ruth Paine because you thought she wanted to see you for her own interests. Will you tell us what you meant by that?
Mrs. Oswald. I think that she wants to see me in her own selfish interests. She likes to be well known, popular, and I think that anything that I should write her, for example, would wind up in the press.
The reason that I think so is that the first time that we were in jail to see Lee, she was with me and with her children, and she was trying to get in front of the cameras, and to push her children and instructed her children to look this way and look that way. And the first photographs that appeared were of me with her children.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall that in the note your husband left about the Walker incident, that there was a reference to the Red Cross, and that you might get help there? Did you ever obtain any help from the Red Cross before that date?
Mrs. Oswald. No, never.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know any reason why your husband put that in the note?
Mrs. Oswald. Well, because the Red Cross is an organization in all countries which helps people who need help, and in case I needed help, since I have no relatives here, I would be able to obtain it from this organization.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether or not your husband received any help from the Red Cross in money payments while he was in Russia?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I don't.
Mr. Rankin. In that note you remember that there was a reference to an embassy—it didn't say which embassy. Do you know what embassy your husband was referring to?
Mrs. Oswald. He had in mind the Soviet Embassy.
Mr. Rankin. You told about the incident of De Mohrenschildt coming to the house and saying something about how your husband happened to miss, and your husband looked at you and looked at him, and seemed to think that you might have told. You have described that.
Now, did you have any cause to believe at that time that De Mohrenschildt knew anything about the Walker incident?
Mrs. Oswald. De Mohrenschildt didn't know anything about it. Simply he thought that this was something that Lee was likely to do. He simply made a joke and the joke happened to hit the target.
Mr. Rankin. Do you conclude that from what you knew about the situation or from something that De Mohrenschildt said at some time?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I know this, myself. I know that Lee could not have told him. And, otherwise, how would he have known?
Mr. Rankin. From your knowledge, were they close enough so that your husband would have made De Mohrenschildt a confidant about anything like that?
Mrs. Oswald. No matter how close Lee might be to anyone, he would not have confided such things.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall the money that your husband borrowed from the Embassy in Moscow to come to this country? Do you know where he got the money to repay that amount?
Mrs. Oswald. He worked and we paid out the debt. For six or seven months we were paying off this debt.
Mr. Rankin. Some of the payments were rather large during that period. Do you remember that?
Mrs.