Rankin. When you were asked before about the trip to Mexico, you did not say that you knew anything about it. Do you want to explain to the Commission how that happened?
Mrs. Oswald. Most of these questions were put to me by the FBI. I do not like them too much. I didn't want to be too sincere with them. Though I was quite sincere and answered most of their questions. They questioned me a great deal, and I was very tired of them, and I thought that, well, whether I knew about it or didn't know about it didn't change matters at all, it didn't help anything, because the fact that Lee had been there was already known, and whether or not I knew about it didn't make any difference.
Mr. Rankin. Was that the only reason that you did not tell about what you knew of the Mexico City trip before?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, because the first time that they asked me I said no, I didn't know anything about it. And in all succeeding discussions I couldn't very well have said I did. There is nothing special in that. It wasn't because this was connected with some sort of secret.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband stay with you at the Paines after that first night when he returned from Mexico?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, he stayed overnight there.
And in the morning we took him to Dallas.
Mr. Rankin. And by "we" who do you mean?
Mrs. Oswald. Ruth Paine, I and her children.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know what he did in Dallas, then?
Mrs. Oswald. He intended to rent an apartment in the area of Oak Cliff, and to look for work.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether he did that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, I know that he always tried to get some work. He was not lazy.
Mr. Rankin. Did he rent the apartment?
Mrs. Oswald. On the same day he rented a room, not an apartment, and he telephoned me and told me about it.
Mr. Rankin. Did you discuss the plans for this room before you took him to Dallas?
Mrs. Oswald. No. I asked him where he would live, and he said it would be best if he rented a room, it would not be as expensive as an apartment.
Mr. Rankin. Did he say anything about whether you would be living with him, or he would be living there alone?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I did not really want to be with Lee at that time, because I was expecting, and it would have been better to be with a woman who spoke English and Russian.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know where your husband looked for work in Dallas at that time?
Mrs. Oswald. No. He tried to get any kind of work. He answered ads, newspaper ads.
Mr. Rankin. Did he have trouble finding work again?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. How long after his return was it before he found a job?
Mrs. Oswald. Two to three weeks.
Mr. Rankin. When he was unemployed in New Orleans, did he get unemployment compensation?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know how much he was getting then?
Mrs. Oswald. $33 a week. It is possible to live on that money. One can fail to find work and live. Perhaps you don't believe me. It is not bad to rest and receive money.
Mr. Rankin. When he was unemployed in Dallas, do you know whether he received unemployment compensation?
Mrs. Oswald. We were due to receive unemployment compensation, but it was getting close to the end of his entitlement period, and we received one more check.
Mr. Rankin. Did you discuss with him possible places of employment after his return from Mexico?
Mrs. Oswald. No. That was his business. I couldn't help him in that. But to some extent I did help him find a job, because I was visiting Mrs. Paine's neighbors. There was a woman there who told me where he might find some work.
Mr. Rankin. And when was this?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember. If that is important, I can try and ascertain date. But I think you probably know.
Mr. Rankin. Was it shortly before he obtained work?
Mrs. Oswald. As soon as we got the information, the next day he went there and he did get the job.
Mr. Rankin. And who was it that you got the information from?
Mrs. Oswald. It was the neighbor whose brother was employed by the school book depository. He said it seemed to him there was a vacancy there.
Mr. Rankin. What was his name?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know.
The Chairman. Well, I think we have arrived at our adjournment time. We will recess now until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.
(Whereupon, at 4:30 p.m., the President's Commission recessed.)
Tuesday, February 4, 1964
TESTIMONY OF MRS. LEE HARVEY OSWALD RESUMED
The President's Commission met at 10 a.m. on February 4, 1964, at 200 Maryland Avenue NE., Washington, D.C.
Present were Chief Justice Earl Warren, Chairman; Senator John Sherman Cooper, Representative Hale Boggs, Representative Gerald R. Ford, John J. McCloy, and Allen W. Dulles, members.
Also present were J. Lee Rankin, general counsel; Norman Redlich, assistant counsel; Leon I. Gopadze and William D. Krimer, interpreters; and John M. Thorne, attorney for Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald.
The Chairman. The Commission will be in order.
Mr. Rankin, will you proceed with the questioning of Mrs. Oswald.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald, there are a number of things about some of the material we have been over, the period we have been over, that I would like to ask you about, sort of to fill in different parts of it. I hope you will bear with us in regard to that.
Were you aware of the diary that your husband had written and the book that he had typed?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Did he hire a public stenographer to help him with his book?
Mrs. Oswald. No, he wrote his in longhand. He started it in Russia. But he had it retyped here because it had been in longhand.
Mr. Rankin. And do you know about when he started to have it retyped here?
Mrs. Oswald. We arrived in June. I think it was at the end of June.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know what happened
