THE EXPATRIATES
Shortly after Oswald's arrival in the United States, he sought the names of people who spoke Russian from the Texas Employment Commission. One of those names was Peter Paul Gregory, a Siberian born immigrant, who entered the United States via Japan, and obtained a petroleum engineering degree from the University of California at Berkeley. Gregory, at the time of his first meeting with Oswald, worked in the oil business, lived in Ft. Worth, and, as part of a volunteer initiative, taught Russian at a public library.
Oswald called Gregory in the middle of June 1962 and requested a letter of qualification as a Russian interpreter. Gregory invited Oswald to his office, asked him to read and interpret a section from a Russian textbook, and wrote a letter of introduction attesting to Oswald's ability to speak Russian. Gregory informed Oswald that there were not many jobs for Russian interpreters in Dallas-Ft. Worth but agreed to help him find work. Gregory, curious about Oswald's accent, asked him if he was Polish. Oswald responded that he was American born, lived in the Soviet Union for two and a half years, and just returned to America with a Russian wife and a baby daughter. Oswald gave Gregory his brother's address and phone number in Ft. Worth.
Gregory and his son, Paul, visited the Oswald’s near the end of June 1962 at the home of Robert Oswald, and spent some time speaking in Russian with Marina. Paul Gregory, a junior at the University of Oklahoma, asked Marina's assistance in Russian studies. She agreed to tutor Paul before he returned to school in the fall. Paul, born in 1941, the same year as Marina, became a conduit through which Marina developed an appreciation for life in America in exchange for lessons in Russian.
Paul Gregory, in an article for the New York Times book magazine in 2013, at the date of the 50th anniversary of John F. Kennedy's assassination, indicated the Russian lessons he received from Marina occurred while driving around Ft. Worth and Dallas on errands and shopping expeditions. Marina corrected grammatical mistakes while Paul showed her landmarks. Gregory wrote that Oswald was particularly cheap (thrifty is an understatement) with regard to shopping, he haggled over meat quality, selected poor cuts, and carried away a "weeks’ worth of groceries in only one bag."
The Gregorys attempted to help the Oswalds by introducing them to other members of the Russian community. The Gregorys held a small dinner party at their home in Ft. Worth in August 1962 and introduced the Oswalds to George Bouhe, the self-proclaimed leader of the Russian expats, and Anne Meller, a Russian born World War II refugee. Marina’s shyness struck Bouhe and Meller, in contrast to Oswald's aloofness. Miller was quite scathing in her remarks to the Warren Commission regarding her first meeting with Oswald. She testified that Oswald "was sick, I mean mentally sick; you could not speak with him about anything. He's against Soviet Union; he's against United States. He made impression he did not know what he likes, really." Bouhe liked Marina on first meeting, they shared a common bond from their roots in the Soviet Union and the older bachelor probably saw himself as a father figure.
Priscilla McMillan described the relationship between the emigres and the Oswalds most succinctly by writing, "The Russians were extraordinarily kind to him. They would surround him and his wife with concern. They helped Lee as much, and as long, as he would allow-and as they could stand." However, the more the Russian community tried to help, the more Oswald pushed back, until they realized his ingratitude was boundless.
From the time of the dinner party at the Gregory's, George Bouhe and Anne Meller traveled almost once a week to check on the Oswalds and found the refrigerator empty, the baby ill clad and sickly, and sleeping in a dresser drawer. Bouhe and Meller showed remarkable compassion for Marina and June Lee, spending their own money and soliciting the Russian community for a playpen, a crib, and clothing for Marina and the baby. They received only resentment from Oswald for their efforts.
To illustrate the perverse nature of Oswald's thought process, the generosity of the emigre community, in his mind, was a vehicle designed to diminish his control over Marina. Oswald berated her for accepting their gifts, argued relentlessly about her Russian friends "spoiling her," but at the same time, played the poverty card to the fullest, and never turned down their generosity. Oswald, in effect, thought he was losing control of Marina, but he was losing control of himself.
The emigres did have a point of no return as far as helping Oswald was concerned; he crossed that point by beating Marina. He abused her in a most forceful manner by hitting her, repeatedly, with his fists. Oswald started his physical abuse while in Russia, slapped her with his open hand but, after their arrival in the United States, he struck her more forcefully than before. The Russians tolerated his attitude, his aloofness, and superior opinion of himself, but they rallied around Marina and tried to rescue her from torment.
George Bouhe and Anne Meller noticed severe bruising around Marina's eye during one of their visits and asked her if she had sustained some sort of injury. Marina replied, quite openly, "no, Lee hit me." Bouhe and Meller were shocked and word of Oswald's abuse quickly spread around the Russian community. Bouhe, according to his Warren Commission testimony, advised Marina to leave Oswald, a sentiment shared by the emigres, but she was unable to leave. Marina remarked, "she felt like being caught between two fires."
A curious event occurred in early October 1962 that further explained Oswald's devious mind. At a gathering at the Oswald residence on Mercedes St, attended by George Bouhe, Anne Meller, Gary and Alexandra Taylor, (Alexandra was the daughter of George de Mohrenschildt) and John and Lyola Hall, Oswald declared, in an outright lie, that he had lost his job at Leslie Welding in Ft. Worth. With his rent overdue, Oswald, the calculating miscreant, devised a plan to alleviate some of his financial burden. The Russians suggested that he look for work in Dallas rather than Ft. Worth as Dallas, the larger of the two cities, held more job prospects. Additionally, the Russians agreed to look after Marina and June Lee while he looked for work.
With the help of the emigres, Oswald was able to find a job at Jaggers, Chiles, and Stovall, a Dallas graphic arts firm, while the Russians cared for Marina. This particular living arrangement appealed to Oswald's irresponsible nature and lack of concern for the well-being of his family. Whether Oswald planned this intricate deception or not, he needed the Russians to shelter and feed Marina and June Lee until he got on his feet, and he took full advantage of the emigre's kindness.
Marina, shuttled between the de Mohrenschildt's, the Taylor's, and Elena Hall's, found a sense of relief from her separation from Oswald, especially while staying at Elana Hall's apartment. Elena, injured in an automobile accident and hospitalized for a week, allowed Marina to stay in her apartment. Marina, with the apartment to herself, slept late and allowed the cleanliness of the apartment to decline. Norman Mailer's assessment of Marina's behavior during this period was most generous, giving her benefit of doubt, he wrote, "this may have been the first period of real rest for Marina in years." However, she allowed Oswald to visit and he ate heartily from Elana Hall's well-stocked refrigerator. He lounged comfortably in front of the television and, according to Priscilla McMillan, they made love, and then retired to separate bedrooms, an arrangement that made Oswald "feel like an aristocrat.” Oswald had convinced Marina to move back in with him.
Oswald's residence during this month-long semi-separation from Marina is something of a mystery. There is evidence he stayed in the YMCA from October 15 through October 19 but, considering he moved to Dallas on October 8 and to an apartment on Elsbeth St. on November 4, his whereabouts for much of this period, except for weekends at Elana Hall's apartment, remains unexplained. Mailer suggested the possibility of a homosexual liaison between Oswald and an unidentified benefactor, perhaps George Bouhe, but there is no evidence to support this conjecture.
From the moment she stepped into the apartment Lee had rented in Dallas, Marina recoiled at its filthy condition. She scrubbed and cleaned until it was presentable. However, their relationship was essentially unchanged, the fighting continued and Marina, in a moment of desperation, called Anne Meller to secure temporary lodging. Marina arrived at the Meller’s, according to Priscilla McMillan, without a coat or jacket and the baby only in diapers and a shirt, both clearly under-dressed for November. The expats continued to help Marina, but the extent of their help had reached its limit.
We depart from our narrative for a moment to introduce more of the supporting cast.
A postcard to Paul Gregory from the Oswalds, November 1962. Postcard from the Hoover Institute.
George de Mohrenschildt
Among the expatriates, the life of George de Mohrenschildt remains today a most fascinating study. He was Russian born, from parents that had roots in many Eastern European countries and spoke five languages fluently. George de Mohrenschildt was entitled to use the prefix Baron with his name from a family association with Queen Christiana of Sweden, but he preferred no linkage to nobility. He moved to the United States in 1938 and changed his name from Von Mohrenschildt because he desired to remove the perception of family linkage to Germany.
George de Mohrenschildt arrived in the United States and developed acquaintances with many influential people, notable among his friends were the Bouviers, the parents of Jacqueline Bouvier. He knew the future Jackie Kennedy when she was a young girl. However, the well-bred, socially connected, and highly educated De Mohrenschildt encountered difficulty with his early business ventures, failures that included sales in perfume, wine, and insurance. He once described insurance as the "lousiest, stinkingest, sorriest type of business possible." These business setbacks led de Mohrenschildt to Texas and the oil industry.
George de Mohrenschildt told the Warren commission the oil industry was in his background. His father had been a director in Noble Enterprises, a large petroleum concern in Russia and, from this family connection to oil exploration, de Mohrenschildt decided to enroll in the University of Texas, majoring in petroleum geology. De Mohrenschildt, with a doctorate in international commerce from the University of Liege already in hand, quickly earned a master's degree and taught French to help defray the cost of his education. He was thirty-three years old when he completed his studies at the University of Texas in 1945.
The next fifteen years found de Mohrenschildt traveling extensively around the world, engaged by various oil companies in remote locations. He married three times, divorced three times, had affairs with younger women and the wives of his associates, speculated in oil exploration, made huge amounts of money, and, evidently, spent most of it without regard to the future or lost it in divorce settlements. In the late 1950s, he began to court the attractive clothing designer, Jeanne LeGon and, according to Priscilla McMillan, Robert LeGon traveled to Dallas and, with a firearm at the ready, sought to confront his wife's suitor. Le Gon reconsidered. He perhaps realized a life sentence in jail was not worth the life of de Mohrenschildt, and declared that, "he would grant his wife a divorce on one condition - that De Mohrenschildt promise to marry her."
By the early 1960s, de Mohrenschildt could claim the most prominent Texas oilmen as his associates, names like Hunt and Murchison. The Warren Commission asked de Mohrenschildt, in effect, how a man of his social condition and education could relate to the downtrodden Oswald. Perhaps he thought himself as a father figure. He found Oswald to be "humble," a person that "glowed" when someone took an interest in him. As he explained to the commission, "I liked the guy...that's all." There was one thing they had in common. De Mohrenschildt lived in Minsk in his youth, he was curious about how much the city had changed over the years, and Oswald, who preferred to speak Russian to English, delighted in their conversations. De Mohrenschildt told the Warren Commission that Oswald's command of Russian was quite fluent considering the short period of time he had been learning the language.
The de Mohrenschildts met the Oswalds in the summer of 1962 and befriended the young couple. George de Mohrenschildt had developed the reputation of a person who relished in shocking his friends. He stated, “Heinrich Himmler was not such a bad boy" or enjoyed greeting his Jewish friends with "Heil Hitler." Many in the emigre community had grown weary of his ostentatious displays of behavior, his irrationality, and preferred to avoid his company such that, by 1962, aside from Lee Harvey Oswald, he had few friends left among the emigres.
The relationship between the Oswalds and the de Mohrenschildts by February 1963 was contentious and, at the same time, cordial. George de Mohrenschildt became indignant with Oswald's treatment of Marina. He reportedly grabbed Oswald by the collar and threatened him with a severe thrashing after he observed Marina with a black eye. "Goddammit," he yelled at the Oswalds, furious with their behavior, but de Mohrenschildt never gave up on them as the other emigres had, in fact, de Mohrenschildt was all the Oswald's had left among their Russian friends.
George de Mohrenschildt, by the spring of 1963, had taken a contract assignment in oil exploration in Haiti. He left Dallas that spring and was not in the United States when the assassination took place, however, the figure of Lee Harvey Oswald haunted him for the remainder of his life. De Mohrenschildt ended his own life in 1977, hours before meeting with JFK researcher Jay Epstein.
De Mohrenschildt, a man with significant knowledge of oil producing countries, gave information to the CIA upon his return to the United States following one of his overseas ventures. It is not clear to what extent the CIA engaged de Mohrenschildt. The conspiracy community contends he was an agent however, de Mohrenschildt claimed he only interviewed regarding foreign oil and was never an employee of the CIA.
George de Mohrenschildt
Ruth Paine
Ruth Paine, 86 years old at the time of this writing, is a curious figure in the assassination. Paine had an interest in the Russian language that began in 1957, an interest that led directly to her relationship with Marina Oswald and her place in history.
Ruth Paine attended Antioch College, became a member of the Society of Friends at the age of 19 and, by the mid-1950's, participated in a pen-pal program designed to encourage positive relationships between Russian and American citizens. Paine was also involved with the East-West Contact Committee, which brought Russians to visit the United States and sent Americans to tour the Soviet Union. Her understanding of the Russian language, by her own admission, was not very good but this appears understated considering her later involvement with Marina Oswald.
Ruth married Michael Paine in December 1957 and the couple relocated to Irving, Texas from Philadelphia in the fall of 1959 to further Michael's career with Bell Helicopter. Michael Paine's work with Bell included design, construction, and testing models of new concepts of helicopter configurations. By September 1962, with their marriage strained, Michael Paine moved out of their house and took an apartment. Ruth Paine, according to her Warren Commission testimony, described her relationship with Michael as quite amicable following their separation. She described seeing Michael frequently for meals, movies, and social gatherings, a relationship that, in her own words, was probably better than many married couples.
Ruth Paine met the Oswalds in February 1963 at a dinner party hosted by Everett Glover. The Oswalds arrived in company with the de Morhenschildts and, as Paine testified before the Warren Commission, she did not recall any formal introductions among the group, however, she sought out Marina, exchanged pleasantries, and promised to write to her. Oswald kept Marina in forced solitude, forbade her to learn English, and controlled her life such that an exchange of letters became the outlet that formed a bond between the two women. Paine told the Commission that Oswald's preference Marina speak only Russian was "distinctly thoughtless...even cruel."
Oswald, by March of 1963, wanted Marina to return to the Soviet Union. She confided to Ruth Paine Oswald's wishes and her expressed desire to remain in the United States, information Marina requested be kept in confidence. Because of her social standing outside the Russian emigre community, Ruth was privy to personal information from Marina, information such as Marina's pregnancy with her second child. Ruth informed Marina that she could stay in her home rather than leave the United States, share the housework, and have her baby outside the punishing control of Lee Harvey Oswald.
Ruth Paine played a pivotal role in the final act of the assassination saga. However, following the assassination, Marina distanced herself from Ruth and repaid Ruth's kindness with silence. Marina testified before the Warren Commission that Ruth Paine was not a "very smart" woman and her subsequent comments about Paine revealed her ingratitude.
Ruth Paine
Volkmar Schmidt
Volkmar Schmidt, born in Germany in 1932, was educated at Kiel University, obtained a PhD in Petro-geology, worked as an oil geologist and, by February 1963, settled in the United States. Schmidt's connection to Dallas was oil, a common thread among Oswald's emigre acquaintances. Schmidt arrived from Germany to work for Standard Oil at the Magnolia Laboratory in Dallas.
Schmidt met the Oswalds and the de Mohrenschildts through Everett Glover, a colleague at the Magnolia Laboratory, and spent considerable time with Oswald at a dinner party discussing politics. Schmidt's impression of Oswald, according to an interview conducted by William Kelly, was of a disturbed young man, desperate, and "his determination to leave an imprint in history was just incredible.” Schmidt maintained that Oswald held very negative views about John F. Kennedy's handling of the Bay of Pigs affair and indicated an outright hatred for the President. Schmidt, in an effort to change Oswald's thinking, suggested he divert his negative energies in the direction of General Edwin Walker, an ultra-right-wing agitator.
Schmidt maintained that, although he never suggested Oswald attempt to kill General Walker, the seeds of this scheme probably sprouted that night during their conversation about politics. He indicated to Oswald that Walker was a racist, a right-wing political agitator that had incited a riot at the University of Mississippi when a black student, James Meredith, attempted to enroll, which resulted in a fifteen-hour riot and the death of two people.
It was shortly after his lengthy discussion with Schmidt that Oswald used an alias, A. Hidel, to order a World War II Carcano bolt-action rifle.
Interview with Volkmar Schmidt https://youtu.be/fLoz8rdJt6I?t=96
Volkmar Schmidt never testified before the Warren Commission.
Volkmar Schmidt