She is quite unhappy when the contributions slack off.
Mr. Redlich. Has she discussed the amount of contributions with you?
Mr. Martin. I have kept her informed all along on it.
Mr. Redlich. Has she indicated that there is some relationship between the story that she reveals to the public and the contributions which she will receive?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Would you be more specific about that?
Mr. Martin. Well, she has read newspaper articles, for instance, that I haven't written but I have directed.
Mr. Redlich. Directed?
Mr. Martin. By giving them information.
Mr. Redlich. What is the nature——
Mr. Martin. To build it up.
Mr. Redlich. What is the nature of these articles?
Mr. Martin. Well, I recall one, I wonder if I have it, I guess I don't have it, that was written by Bill Burrus of the Times Herald in Dallas. It was a very good article, and not quite true, we will say. It is shaded in truth.
Mr. Redlich. Do you have the article with you?
Mr. Martin. Here is one Bill Burrus did that is when she went to midnight mass.
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin has submitted to the Commission an article which does not carry a date or the name of the publication in which it appears, but is headed "Marina Oswald attended mass, had quiet Yule", by Bill Burrus.
Mr. Martin. That was the Dallas Times Herald.
Mr. Redlich. Since we would like to question the witness about this, I would like to label it Commission Exhibit No. 326 and ask it be introduced in evidence.
Mr. Dulles. It will be admitted with no objection.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 326 for identification and received in evidence.)
Mr. Redlich. I hand you Commission Exhibit 326, Mr. Martin. Will you tell us in what respects this article is not true?
Mr. Martin. Well, I wouldn't say it is strictly not true. But it embellishes the truth.
Mr. Redlich. Could you be specific in terms of references to the particular article?
Mr. Martin. Well, for instance, let's see, is this where she went to church?
Mr. Dulles. Did she go to church?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Leech. It is my partner's church.
Mr. Martin. Well, for instance, "she wandered around the secret quarters for long periods of time, sometimes she listened to Christmas carols over radio or television", which I believe is not true. I don't believe I told that; that was just added in there.
"Marina continued her studies of the English language and watched television, including her favorite Steve Allen show". She doesn't even like Steve Allen. And, of course, she is never studying English.
Mr. Dulles. Was this information that you gave to Mr. Burrus?
Mr. Martin. No. That is the trouble with newspapers. I have told Bill Burrus that she watches Steve Allen. She does but just for lack of anything else to do.
Now I didn't say anything about the Christmas carols nor about studying the English language.
Mr. Dulles. You say she has not been studying the English language?
Mr. Martin. No, she is learning it quite rapidly because she had to in her own defense in order to converse with people. When she was living with us, there was no one there that spoke Russian so she had to learn English in order to converse.
Mr. Dulles. Is there anything else in this particular article that you would either regard as unslanted or untrue?
Mr. Martin. No.
Mr. Dulles. Could you give us other examples where——
Mr. Martin. There is the first one.
Mr. Dulles. If you are planning to comment on that I would like to introduce it in evidence.
Mr. Martin. Yes. This will go with it.
Mr. Redlich. The witness has submitted to the Commission an article appearing in the Dallas Times Herald on Sunday, December 15, 1963, the headline reading, "Marina Oswald, all the pity in the world won't help", written by Bill Burrus. This has now been marked as Commission Exhibit No. 327, and I ask that it be admitted in evidence.
Mr. Dulles. This will be admitted, if there is no objection.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 327 for identification and received in evidence.)
Mr. Redlich. Mr. Martin, I hand you Commission Exhibit No. 327 and ask you to tell the Commission in what respects if any there is material in this article which you regard as untrue or exaggerated or slanted?
Mr. Martin. Here is a sentence in here, "She pores over the letters reaching her more than a thousand so far and is choked with emotion by the compassion and support they express", the only thing she did actually was to open the letters and did not open all of them. The only letters she read or attempted to read were ones written in Russian.
Mr. Redlich. What was her reaction to those letters?
Mr. Martin. Acceptance of it but no real thankfulness. The further it went, the longer it went, it seemed the less she cared whether——
Mr. Dulles. Did Burrus get this slanted material from you?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Do you recall anything she specifically said in response to these letters that is leading you to the conclusion that you have reached?
Mr. Martin. That she specifically said?
Mr. Redlich. Yes.
Mr. Martin. Well, for instance, one day she opened a letter and there was a dollar in it and she said, "Oh, a dollar", and threw it on the table, and there are little things that living as closely as we did, you can't really recall the specific incidents but there is a general feeling, and there is a complete lack of compassion as to what all these people are doing for her or trying to do for her.
Mr. Redlich. But you can't recall anything specific that she said which would indicate this lack of compassion?
Mr. Martin. No, other than "the American people are crazy for sending me that money".
Mr. Redlich. Is that a quotation from Mrs. Oswald? She said the American people are crazy for sending this money?
Mr. Martin. Yes.
Mr. Redlich. Did she elaborate on it?
Mr. Martin. No.
