I didn't know that.
Mr. Rankin. Then in the exhibit he goes on to say, "This agent also 'suggested' to Marina Nichilyeva that she could remain in the United States under FBI protection."
Did you ever hear of anything like that before?
Mrs. Oswald. I had not been proposed anything of the sort at any time.
The only thing the agent did say is that if I had ever any kind of difficulties or troubles in the sense that someone would try to force me to do something, to become an agent, then I should get in touch with him, and that if I don't want to do this, that they would help me. But they never said that I live here and that I must remain here under their protection.
Mr. Rankin. Then in this Exhibit 15 he goes on to explain what he means by the word "protection", saying "That is, she could defect from the Soviet Union, of course." Do you remember anybody saying anything like that to you?
Mrs. Oswald. No, no one said anything like that.
Mr. Rankin. Did anyone at any time, while you were in the United States, suggest that you become an agent of any agency of the United States?
Mrs. Oswald. No, never.
Mr. Rankin. Did anyone from the Soviet Union suggest that you be an agent for that government, or any of its agencies?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Now, in this Exhibit 15, your husband goes on to say, "I and my wife strongly protested tactics by the notorious FBI."
Do you know of any protest of that kind, or any action of that kind?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't know of any protests, but simply that I said that I would prefer not to get these visits, because they have a very exciting and disturbing effect upon my husband. But it was not a protest. This was simply a request.
Mr. Rankin. And you never made any protests against anyone asking you to act as an agent or to defect to the United States because no one asked you that, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. No one ever asked me.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know of anything that you could tell the Commission in regard to these matters in this letter, Exhibit 15, that would shed more light on what your husband meant or what he was trying to do, that you have not already told us?
Mrs. Oswald. Everything that I could tell you with reference to this letter I have told you.
The Chairman. I think we will take a short recess now, about 10 minutes.
Mrs. Oswald. I would like to help you, but I simply don't know, I cannot.
(Brief recess)
The Chairman. The Commission will be in order.
Mr. Rankin, you may proceed.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald, I will hand you again Exhibit 14 and the translation from the Russian and call your attention to the urgency of your request there. I ask you, was that your idea to press for help from the Embassy in regard to the visa, or your husband's?
Mrs. Oswald. Of course my husband.
Mr. Rankin. At the time of Exhibit 14, then, you were not anxious to return to Russia?
Mrs. Oswald. I never wanted to return but Lee insisted and there is nothing else I could do. But sometimes when I wrote these letters, I felt very lonely—since my husband didn't want me, I felt perhaps this would be the best way.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know the Spanish language?
Mrs. Oswald. Perhaps five words.
Mr. Rankin. Have you given it any study?
Mrs. Oswald. No. I have a Spanish textbook of the Spanish language and I had intended to study even while I was still in Russia, but I never did.
Mr. Rankin. Did your husband ever study Spanish that you know of?
Mrs. Oswald. He didn't study it, but before his trip to Mexico he would sit down with the textbook and look at it.
Mr. Rankin. I hand you Exhibit 17 and ask you if you recall having seen that before.
Mrs. Oswald. May I take it out?
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mrs. Oswald. June seems to have played with it. This was Lee's study of Spanish perhaps because this was all photographed, it is soiled. Here I helped Lee. I wrote some Spanish words.
Mr. Rankin. Does that Exhibit 17 have any of your husband's handwriting on it?
Mrs. Oswald. Some of it is my handwriting and some of it is Lee's handwriting.
Mr. Rankin. Can you tell us when he was trying to study Spanish? Was it at any time with regard to the time when he planned to go to Cuba?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. About when did he start?
Mrs. Oswald. In August, in New Orleans, 1963.
Mr. Rankin. And whatever he did in this notebook, Exhibit 17, he did at that time or thereafter?
Mrs. Oswald. No, this was in September.
Mr. Rankin. Did he do whatever writing he did in connection with the study of the Spanish language in Exhibit 17 at New Orleans in August or after that date?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Do you want to know whether this was earlier than August or later?
Mr. Rankin. Yes.
Mrs. Oswald. No, not earlier. This was in September, not in August.
Mr. Rankin. And did he do anything in the writing of what is in Exhibit 17 in the study of the Spanish language at Dallas, that you know of?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. I offer in evidence Exhibit 17.
The Chairman. It may be marked with the next number and received in evidence.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 17, and received in evidence.)
Mrs. Oswald. How a simple notebook can become a matter of material evidence—the Spanish words in it, and June's scribbling on it.
Mr. Rankin. Returning to the time that your husband came back from Mexico City to Dallas, can you tell us what type of luggage he brought back with him?
Mrs. Oswald. He had a military type raincoat with him and a small bag with a zipper, blue in color.
Mr. Rankin. As far as you recall he did not have two bags that he brought back with him from Mexico?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did he spend the first weekend of October 4 to 6 with you at the Paines?
Mrs.
