Who was rude?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Lee Oswald was rude to Max Clark and to his wife. They invited him on some occasion--this I remember vaguely--they invited him at some occasion to come to their house. And Lee said, "Well, I will come if it is convenient to me." Imagine that--an answer of that type.

Mr. Jenner.

Now, the Clarks, certainly Mr. Clark--I do not know too much about Mrs. Clark--but Mr. Clark is an educated man.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Very educated man.

Mr. Jenner.

And a man of attainment. He is an attorney, is he not?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

Did it occur to you that here is a person who is relatively uneducated, of limited capacity--I think this man had intelligence----
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

Being invited to the home socially of a man of capacity?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

A lawyer, a leader in the community with a fine service record. What was your reaction to that?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, Max invited him purely because his wife was Russian and she would like to speak Russian once in a while.

Mr. Jenner.

You think Lee resented that, do you--that the interest was in Marina and not in Lee Oswald?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; definitely. Oh, that is an exceedingly important point, you know. Lee resented the interest that people would take in Marina. He wanted the interest concentrated on himself.

Mr. Jenner.

And did he exhibit that in your home and at other gatherings where you saw him? Did he interrupt so that the attention might be drawn to him and away from her?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; he was not----

Mr. Jenner.

I do not want to put the words in your mouth.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes, I understand what you mean. I am trying to think of a particular case that I would remember. I do not remember any particular case, but I always took him and considered him as an egocentric person. I do not remember any particular incident, but I knew that he wanted the attention to himself, always. Not in any particular case, but always. And he would rather disregard what Marina would say. And this is possibly the reason for his not wanting to--for Marina to learn English, so she would stay completely in the background.

Mr. Jenner.

Now, you opened that subject which I want to inquire of you about. Did you people in the Russian colony--did you consider that? Did you regard that as unusual?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Right from the very first day my wife told Marina, "You have to learn English, you have to be able to communicate, and especially since you do not get along with your husband and you are going to leave him some day--you have to be able to support your child and yourself. You have to learn English and start immediately on its" We gave her some records to study English--not mine, but my wife's and her daughter's records, of Shakespearian English, how to learn English, and they obviously still have those records.

Mr. Jenner.

Yes, they were found in Mrs. Paine's home.
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. We even gave them a phonograph, I think, a cheap phonograph, to play the records.

Mr. Jenner.

You gave them records?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.

Mr. Jenner.

You also gave them an instrument to play them on?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. A cheap phonograph, to play those records.

Mr. Jenner.

What else do you recall giving them--dresses?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I do not---

Mr. Jenner.

Toys for the baby?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Toys for the baby, definitely. And I am sure that my wife had given some dresses. But she will remember better than I do. But we never gave them one cent of money. This I recall--never--and Lee would not take money, you see. I might have given him a little bit if he had

« Previous | Next »

Found a Typo?

Click here

Last Update: Wed, 3 Aug 2016 21:56:34 CET