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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. X - Page 243« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Mrs. Mahlon F. Tobias)

Mrs. Tobias.
was bad and my husband told me if I said I was Russian people would be mean to me”.
Mr. Jenner.
She made it known to you with her limited command of English--she said what you have now related?
Mrs. Tobias.
Oh--yes; she said it. I understood her real well.
Mr. JENNER, You did?
Mrs. Tobias.
And she said, "My husband thinks people will be mean to me," and I said, "Nobody will be mean to you," and I said, "You are always welcome to come into my house." I am always nice to the tenants, but I don't run back and forth, but I try to be nice to them. A lot of them do seem lonesome when they come in. She come in lots of afternoons and would just set this little girl down on the floor and she was 9 months old when they moved in there and she would crawl around over on the rug and she would stay in there sometimes an hour, and she did that lots of afternoons--just lots of afternoons she would come up.
Mr. Jenner.
And during that--with all of this period of time, you had many opportunities to observe her?
Mrs. Tobias.
Yes; and then she came in the evening and wanted to know if she could use the phone. She said, "I don't know where my husband is." She told me that.
Mr. Jenner.
About when was that?
Mrs. Tobias.
Well, that was just maybe a short time before they moved out of there that could have been a short time, because they weren't there too much longer after that. It was in the evening and I had such a hard time talking to her myself, it seemed to be harder for her to grasp or to understand English than it was for me to her, so I said to her, "Mrs. Oswald, Marina, can you read English?" She said "Yes"--and I went and got a tablet of paper.
Mr. Jenner.
You got a tablet?
Mrs. Tobias.
Yes; I did. I went over to the desk and I got a tablet and on this sheet of paper, you know, I took a pencil and I put on there, "When he gets home give him a good kick in the shin." And she just started laughing. She read that--she could read that, and she read that, and she thought that was real funny, and she said she would, so she came back the second time.
Mr. Jenner.
That evening?
Mrs. Tobias.
Yes---she never did find him. She called--she must have called lots of places, but, of course, spoke not in English.
Mr. Jenner.
When she made these telephone calls, she always spoke in the foreign language?
Mrs. Tobias.
She never spoke in English.
Mr. Jenner.
You never heard her use English over the telephone?
Mrs. Tobias.
No; only when she would try to talk to me and I would see Mrs. Oswald every day. She would have a handwashing, you know, and there were lines in the back.
Mr. Jenner.
What kind of housekeeper was she?
Mrs. Tobias.
Well, I never was in there but once, and I'll tell you why I was in there then--this fellow came over and he said to my husband, I think that he's really hurt her this time."
Mr. Jenner.
Now, this was another tenant?
Mrs. Tobias.
A tenant--yes, and we didn't hear her and I didn't see her out at the clothesline, and my husband said, “Why don't you and I go over and rap on the door and see if she will come to the door and see if she's okay." He said, "We can tell her that the sweeper is over here she hasn't found the sweeper--she doesn't know anything about it.
Mr. Jenner.
That would be the sweeper to use in the apartments?
Mrs. Tobias.
A vacuum sweeper.
Mr. Jenner.
I take it this was sometime in 1962?
Mrs. Tobias.
Yes; because that could have been sometime in December, but I just don't have no dates. That's the worst part of it. If we had had any idea--but anyway, she came to the door and she had her housecoat on and she had marks on her face.
Mr. Jenner.
Where what portion--the left cheek or the right cheek?
Mrs. Tobias.
It would be like this [indicating].
Mr. Jenner.
That's her right cheek?
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