Mrs. Oswald. My mother's sister lives there, and she had invited me to come there for a rest because I was on vacation.
Mr. Rankin. Did anyone go with you?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. How long did you stay?
Mrs. Oswald. Three weeks, I think.
Mr. Rankin. Did you write to your husband while you were gone?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Was your aunt's name Mikhilova?
Mrs. Oswald. Mikhilova, yes.
Mr. Rankin. Was there any reason why you took this vacation alone and not with your husband?
Mrs. Oswald. He was working at that time. He didn't have a vacation. He wanted to go with me, but he could not.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know what delayed your departure to the United States?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. There was some correspondence with the Embassy about your husband returning alone. Did you ever discuss that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. What did he say about that, and what did you say?
Mrs. Oswald. He said that if he did go alone, he feared that they would not permit me to leave, and that he would, therefore, wait for me.
Mr. Rankin. What did you say?
Mrs. Oswald. I thanked him for the fact that he wanted to wait for me.
Mr. Rankin. Where did you stay in Moscow when you went there about your visa?
Mrs. Oswald. At first, we stopped at the Hotel Ostamkino. And then we moved to the Hotel Berlin, formerly Savoy.
Mr. Rankin. How long were you there on that trip?
Mrs. Oswald. I think about 10 days, perhaps a little longer.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever have any status in the armed forces of the Soviet Union?
Mrs. Oswald. No. But all medical workers, military, are obligated—all medical workers have a military obligation. In the event of a war, we would be in first place.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever learn from your husband how he paid his expenses in Moscow for the period prior to the time you went to Minsk?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. I hand you Exhibit 23 and ask you if that is a booklet that records your military status.
Mrs. Oswald. I didn't work. It is simply that I was obligated. There is an indication there "non-Party member".
Mr. Rankin. I offer in evidence Exhibit 23.
The Chairman. It may be received.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 23, and received in evidence.)
Mr. Rankin. As I understand you, you did not serve in the armed forces of the Soviet Union, but because of your ability as a pharmacist, you were obligated, if the call was ever extended to you, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, that is correct.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know any reason why your husband was permitted to stay in the Soviet Union when he first came there?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know why——
Mrs. Oswald. Many were surprised at that—here and in Russia.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know why he went to Minsk, or was allowed to go to Minsk?
Mrs. Oswald. He was sent to Minsk.
Mr. Rankin. By that, you mean by direction of the government?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband do any writing while he was in the Soviet Union that you know of?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, he wrote a diary about his stay in the Soviet Union.
Mr. Rankin. I hand you Exhibit 24 and ask you if that is a photostatic copy of the diary that you have just referred to.
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, that is Lee's handwriting. It is a pity that I don't understand it.
Is that all? It seems to me there was more.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald, that is all of the historic diary that we have received. There are some other materials that I will call your attention to, but apparently they are not part of that.
I offer in evidence Exhibit 24.
The Chairman. It may be admitted and take the next number.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 24, and received in evidence.)
Mrs. Oswald. That is all that only has reference to this? Or is that everything that Lee had written?
Mr. Rankin. No, it is not all that he ever wrote, but it is all that apparently fits together as a part of the descriptive diary in regard to the time he was in Russia.
Do you know when your husband made Exhibit 24, as compared with doing it daily or from time to time—how it was made?
Mrs. Oswald. Sometimes two or three days in a row. Sometimes he would not write at all. In accordance with the way he felt about it.
The Chairman. Mrs. Oswald, you said a few moments ago it was a pity that you could not read this. Would you like to have the interpreter read it to you later, so you will know what is in it?
You may, if you wish.
Mrs. Oswald. Some other time, later, when I know English myself perhaps.
The Chairman. You may see it any time you wish.
Mr. Rankin. Mr. Chairman, I just heard Mr. Thorne ask if there was any reason why they could not have photocopies of the exhibits. I know no reason.
The Chairman. No, there is no reason why you cannot. You may have it.
Mr. Thorne. Thank you.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald has raised the question about whether this was complete. And this was all that was given us, as Exhibit 24, but we are going to check back on it to determine whether there was anything that may have been overlooked by the Bureau when they gave it to us.
Mrs. Oswald, your husband apparently made another diary that he wrote on some paper of the Holland America Line. Are you familiar with that?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. I will hand you Exhibit 25 and ask you if you recall having seen that.
Mrs. Oswald. I know this paper, but I didn't know what was contained in it. I didn't know this was a diary.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know what it was?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Possibly I misdescribed it, Mrs. Oswald. It may be more accurately described as a story of his experiences in the Soviet Union.
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know even when he wrote this, whether this was aboard the ship or after we came to the United States. I only know the paper itself and the handwriting.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether it is your husband's handwriting?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. I offer in evidence Exhibit 25.
The Chairman. It may be admitted.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 25, and received in evidence.)
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall how much money you and your husband had in savings when you left Moscow for the United States?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know, because Lee did not tell me how much money he had, because he knew that if he would tell me I would spend everything.