He said, "Mother, that is our affair."
And so that ended. I wasn't going to interfere any further.
Now, this has been publicly stated by the Russian friends, that he beat his wife. I don't know if he did beat his wife. I happened to see the black eye. I know that he hit her and gave her a black eye. Marina said so, and my son has said so. But how many times does this happen, I don't know.
But I am trying to point out that I don't approve of it. But I am trying to point out that everything is not according to Hoyle, as we say in our American way of life.
Mr. Rankin. Is there any other time that you recall that you saw that she had bruises or a black eye?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir; that is the only time.
And then the children moved to Dallas.
Now, this will end that part of the story.
I have accepted and I have the public papers, in 1959, when Lee went to Russia—I made a statement that as an individual I thought he had a right to make up his own mind in the decision to do what he wanted. I am of that nature, because, gentlemen, today or tomorrow I may decide to go to Russia, I will go. We are taught that in America, that we have the right to do what we want as an individual. So I publicly stated in 1959 that Lee had a right, if he wanted to live in that country. And I think it was courage that he did so, instead of staying in America and talking about America, and living here and downing his country. It took courage to go and live where he wanted to live.
I was criticized highly for making that statement. And it is published in 1959—as far back as that.
So I will get back now to when the children left.
They did not tell me they had left.
So I accepted the fact that my son Lee did not want me to know that he was in Dallas.
Why I accepted the fact is because of Lee's so-called defection.
I have had it very hard, Mr. Rankin, and gentlemen—I have lost jobs, I was in a position, if I was in a home and television was on, and something political was on television, and the people commented, I felt it was necessary to keep quiet, because of it. Because of the defection I thought if I would express my views they might think I was a Communist like my son was supposed to be. And in many a home I have been in—after three or four days they would tell me my services were not needed.
I cannot say, sure it was because of Lee's defection. However, I feel sure that it is, because I am a respected person, and a very good nurse, as has been stated in the paper. And my jobs were gotten from word of mouth.
But you must understand that I deal with a lot of people. So naturally it is natural that some of them would feel resentful against me because of my son defecting to Russia and presumably being a Communist.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever find out where Marina was that day that you tried to locate her?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir, no sir, that ended that.
So I respected my son's wish, since he didn't want to tell me where he was in Dallas, that I would accept that fact.
Now, gentlemen, this may seem hard that I accept these things. But it is not. I am self-supporting. I have a life of my own. And if Lee decides that that is the way he wants it, I am not going to grieve and worry about it. I have to get my sleep in order to work. I have the ability of accepting things, the ability granted me by the grace of God, because of my difficulty in life. I have been a widow. I have had many, many obstacles, and I have had to face them. And my faith gets stronger. I do accept things.
As now, I accept the death of my son. I don't brood over that. I have that ability of doing that.
So I just accepted the fact—when Lee gets ready to let me know where he is, fine—up until that time, it is his privilege to do what he wants.
Now, that is the last contact I have had with Marina and Lee until the news broke in Dallas that Lee was picked up because of the assassination of President Kennedy.
Mr. Rankin. Tell us about this period you were talking about, when he went to Dallas. Was that before or after the time he went to New Orleans?
Mrs. Oswald. That was before the time, sir—he lived—from my apartment, the Rotary Apartments, when Lee got the job he lived on Mercedes Street from the end of July, I would say, or the beginning of September, until October, when he left to go to Dallas.
Mr. Rankin. What year was that?
Mrs. Oswald. That was in 1963.
Mr. Rankin. You mean '62?
Mrs. Oswald. I am sorry—1962. And that was the last I had seen of Marina and Lee.
Mr. Rankin. Did you ever find where they were in Dallas?
Mrs. Oswald. No, sir. I explained before that I made no attempt. I thought when they get ready to let me know, that is fine. Up until then, I had to do my own work and take care of myself. And I do respect other people's privileges. If that is the way they want it, fine.
When they get ready to let me know, I will welcome them. If not, I will go about my own business.
Mr. Rankin. Had you learned they had gone to New Orleans?
Mrs. Oswald. I had not learned of that until after the assassination. I knew nothing, I had no contact with them.
So, then, the next thing we should start then would be the Dallas—the assassination.
Mr. Rankin. Whatever you know.
Mrs. Oswald. Well, I was on a case in a rest home, and I had a 3 to 11 shift. I was dressed, ready to go to work. I was watching—I am a little ahead of my story.
I watched the television in the morning before I was dressed. And Richard Nixon was in Dallas, and he made a television appearance approximately 2 hours before President Kennedy was to arrive in Dallas. And, as a layman, I remember saying, "Well, the audacity of him, to make this statement against President Kennedy just an hour or two before his arrival in Dallas."
And then I had my lunch, and I dressed, with my nurse's uniform on, to go to work, for the 3 to 11 shift. And I have to leave home at 2:30. So I had a little time to watch the Presidential procession.
And while sitting on the sofa, the news came that the President was shot. And there was a witness on television, a man and a little girl on television. However, I could not continue to watch it. I had to report to work.
So I went in the car, and approximately seven blocks away I turned the radio on in the car. I heard that Lee Harvey Oswald was picked up as a suspect.
I immediately turned the car around and came back home, got on the telephone, called Acme Brick in Fort Worth, and asked where Robert was, because he had been traveling, and I must get in touch with Robert immediately, because his brother was picked up as a suspect in the assassination. So they had Robert call me.
Robert didn't know that Lee was picked up.
Mr. Rankin. Was this the day of the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir, the day of the assassination, they picked Lee up.
Mr. Rankin. And 3 to 11—that is in the afternoon?
Mrs. Oswald. This was 2:30, because I was on my way to work, and I had to be at work at 3 o'clock.
Mr. Rankin. Three in the afternoon is when you had to be at work?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir, and it was 2:30 I heard the news and went back home.
I had Acme Brick call Robert to give him the news, and Robert called me, and he had not heard his brother was picked up.
Now, Robert is in Denton. So I called the Star Telegram, and asked that—if they could possibly have someone escort me to Dallas, because I realized I could not drive to Dallas. And they did. They sent two men to escort me to Dallas.
The