(Testimony of Dr. Renatus Hartogs)
Mr. Liebeler.
Dr. HARTOGS. They indicate a passive retiring surface facade, under which the child hides considerable hostility of various degrees.
Mr. Liebeler.
It would indicate to some extent a hiding of hostile tendencies toward others?
Dr. HARTOGS. Yes. But usually in a passive-aggressive individual the aggressiveness can be triggered off and provoked in stress situations or if he nourishes his hate and his hostility for considerable length of time so that the passive surface facade all of a sudden explodes, this can happen. I said here that his fantasy life turned around the topics of omnipotence and power. He said also that "I dislike everybody," which is quite interesting, I think, also pertinent.
Mr. Liebeler.
You indicated that his mother was interviewed by the Youth House social worker and is described as such- and-such. That would indicate, would it not, to you that you personally did not see the mother?
Dr. HARTOGS. That is right. I did not see the mother personally, but the information I have from the Youth House social worker's report.
Mr. Liebeler.
You indicated in the second sentence of the summary for the probation officer's report, "No finding of neurological impairment or psychotic mental changes could be made," did you not?
Dr. HARTOGS. That is right.
Mr. Liebeler.
What do you mean when you say that "No finding of psychotic mental changes could be made"?
Dr. HARTOGS. This child was not suffering from delusions and hallucinations.
Mr. Liebeler.
Would you couple that with the concept of neurological impairment which indicated no brain damage or anything of that sort which would cause hallucinations or disturbance of the personality?
Dr. HARTOGS. Yes.
Mr. Liebeler.
Do you remember the circumstances of Oswald's home environment here in New York at the time he came?
Dr. HARTOGS. No.
Mr. Liebeler.
You have no recollection of that. If I were to tell you now that this boy came to New York with his mother, his father having died before he was born, to live with one of his older brothers, and that they lived with the brother here in Manhattan on 92d Street for a short time, after which friction developed, and they then moved to the Bronx, the mother worked all day, to support the child, in a department store here in New York or in Brooklyn, and the boy apparently found difficulty in his relations with others at school because he dressed differently, being from Texas, they lived apparently on the Grand Concourse, which has been described to us at that time as being a generally middle-class Jewish neighborhood, in which the boys did not dress in levis or quite so casually as Oswald did; that he was given some difficulty because of the fact that he did not speak the way the people did in New York, he spoke with a southern Texas accent and did not understand the patois of the city; assuming that those things were true, would that be a partial explanation, do you think, of the way that he reacted to you during the interview as reflected in your report?
Dr. HARTOGS. No; I would not say. This was not the personality disturbance which was the result of the situation of changes or conditioning; this was more deeper going. A personality pattern disturbance is a disturbance which has been existing since early childhood and has continued to exist through the individual's life. It is not the result of recent conditioning.
Mr. Liebeler.
After reading your report, are you able to form an opinion or did you form an opinion at that time of what might have caused this particular personality pattern disturbance in this boy?
Dr. HARTOGS. I mentioned it, I think, in the report, the lack of a father figure, the lack of a real family life, neglect by self- involved mother. Yes; I think these are the three factors.
Mr. Liebeler.
After reviewing the report, do you have any other remarks that you think would be helpful to us in trying to understand what motivated this boy, assuming that he was the assassin of the President?
Dr. HARTOGS. No.
Mr. Liebeler.
That you haven't already talked about?
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