Oswald. Yes, sir; I know we did. I cannot remember it too clearly.
But I would say that it wasn't too frequently that we did see Lee.
Mr. Jenner. Now, you moved to Dallas in 1944?
Mr. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. Jenner. Was there anything unusual prior to the time you moved to Dallas about your life and your relationships with your mother and with Lee, if any? Was there an event that is now etched on your mind?
Mr. Oswald. I would like to back up there just a little bit.
Lee was placed at the Bethlehem Orphan Home for approximately the last year that we were there.
Mr. Jenner. That would be, then, 1943?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. I see.
Mr. Dulles. He would have been 4 to 5 years old then?
Mr. Jenner. Yes. He was born in October 1939. So he would then be approximately 4—well, when he was placed in Bethlehem Home it was some time during the year 1943, to the best of your recollection?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Would you be good enough to relate to the Commission the circumstances that brought that about? What do you recall as to why?
Mr. Oswald. My opinion on that, sir, was this. That mother had wanted to bring Lee to the home at an earlier date, but that they had a minimum age required before he could be placed in there, because they did not have any real small children there. I mean there was no nursery there that I recall. And there was no very young children. When I say very young—say under 3 years old.
I remember some children there that perhaps were four or three and a half years old.
Mr. Jenner. I take it, Mr. Oswald, your mother put Lee in the orphan home at the first opportunity open to her under the rules or policy of the Bethlehem Orphan Home in that respect.
Mr. Oswald. That is correct.
Mr. Jenner. Now, did she come to visit the home when Lee was placed in the home?
If I may, you recall you said you were free on Wednesdays, it may have been limited to the summer time, and you and John would go into the New Orleans town district and visit your mother.
Did she come to see Lee? Does that stimulate your recollection that she did come to visit?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; she did come to visit us. I recall after Lee was placed in the home, that all three of us would go down and visit mother, and we always took Lee with us.
Mr. Jenner. I see. What contact did you have with Lee in that 1-year period, in 1943, when he was with you boys in the home?
Mr. Oswald. John and I both looked on Lee as our kid brother, and we stayed pretty close to him, and defended him whenever we had to.
Mr. Jenner. How did Lee get along during those days?
Let's confine it to up to 1944, when you moved to Dallas.
Mr. Oswald. I don't recall any instance where it would stand out in my mind that he did not get along with anybody.
Mr. Jenner. He had the normal life of a 4-year-old at that particular time—got into his fights to the extent everyone else did?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. McKenzie. You mean at the time he was 4 years old?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. There may be others who would be interested in his course of conduct and his reactions even at age 4. You will forgive me for going into that.
Mr. Oswald. Certainly.
Mr. Jenner. But your present recollection, as far as Lee's relationship with other 4-year-olds or 5's or 3's, his general course of conduct, with regard to the interplay between himself and others at or near his age, is what you would describe as normal?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; that is correct.
Mr. Jenner. All right.
Now we are moving to Dallas in 1944. You brought out the fact that Lee became enrolled in Bethlehem Orphan Home, because I asked you questions whether there was anything unusual etched on your mind at that time that had occurred up to the point of your moving to Dallas. Was there anything else that this discussion, that is now stimulated that you would like to report?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir, I cannot think of anything else.
Mr. Jenner. Now, what was the reason you moved to Dallas?
Mr. Oswald. I don't really know, sir. Of course we were quite happy to leave the Bethlehem Orphan Home. By that, I don't mean to imply that they didn't treat us well there. But, of course, we were quite happy to be with mother again, all of us together.
As to the reason why mother moved us to Dallas, I do not know.
Mr. Jenner. Now, when you moved to Dallas, you resided—can you recall the address or at least approximately where you lived in Dallas?
Mr. Oswald. As I recall, it was Victor Street. It was a corner house, a large two-story white—I feel sure it was a frame white house. The garage was to the back side of the house. Victor Street ran in front of the house, and another street down the side where you entered the garage.
Mr. Jenner. I don't think I asked you this. It is a little bit out of order.
Do you happen to recall your brother John's date of birth?
Mr. Oswald. Yes, sir; you did ask me that. It was January 17, 1932. Yes, sir.
Mr. Jenner. All right. Thank you.
Your mother, did she become immediately employed in Dallas, or had she already arranged for employment in Dallas?
Mr. Oswald. This I do not recall, sir. I feel more like that she perhaps had arranged for employment in Dallas before we moved there. I would think this would be the natural thing to do. We had never been to Texas before. And, to my knowledge, she didn't know anybody in Texas.
And why we moved to Dallas, I certainly don't recall any reason at all.
Mr. Jenner. Did you have any relatives in Dallas?
Mr. Oswald. No, sir.
Mr. Jenner. Where did Mr. Ekdahl reside? Was he living in or a native of Dallas?
Mr. Oswald. I understand Mr. Ekdahl was from Boston, Mass., and he was at that time—I believe that is correct, sir—at least the way I remember it—employed by the Texas Electric Co.
Mr. Jenner. At what office?
Mr. Oswald. At Dallas. It might not have been Texas Electric. Texas Power and Light, perhaps—something like that.
Mr. Jenner. But Mr. Ekdahl was then
