to meet with her and she accused the Secret Service personnel of preventing her from seeing me.
Mr. Rankin. Except for the time at the jail and at the cemetery, have you seen her since the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. At the time you did see your mother-in-law, did you observe any difference in her attitude towards you?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, of course.
Mr. Rankin. Will you describe that difference that you observed?
Mrs. Oswald. At first I said that I didn't see her any more. But after Lee was in jail I lived with her for some time at that inn.
Mr. Rankin. The Six Flags?
Mrs. Oswald. The Six Flags. And inasmuch as I lived with her and met with her every day I could see—I was able to see the change. At least if her relationship with me was good, it was not sincere. I think that she does not like me. I don't think that she simply is able to like me.
There were some violent scenes, she didn't want to listen to anyone, there were hysterics. Everyone was guilty of everything and no one understood her.
Perhaps my opinion is wrong, but at least I do not want to live with her and to listen to scandals every day.
Mr. Rankin. Did she say anything to indicate that she blamed you in connection with the assassination?
Mrs. Oswald. No, she did not accuse me of anything.
Mr. Rankin. In your presence, at any time, did she accuse Ruth Paine of being involved in causing the assassination or being directly involved?
Mrs. Oswald. No, she never accused Ruth Paine. She simply did not like her.
Mr. Rankin. Did she tell you why she didn't like Ruth Paine?
Mrs. Oswald. She told me but I didn't understand it because it was in English. She expresses more by rather stormy mimicry, thinking that that would get across and I would understand.
Mr. Rankin. You said that you didn't want to see Ruth Paine because you thought she wanted to see you for her own interests. Will you tell us what you meant by that?
Mrs. Oswald. I think that she wants to see me in her own selfish interests. She likes to be well known, popular, and I think that anything that I should write her, for example, would wind up in the press.
The reason that I think so is that the first time that we were in jail to see Lee, she was with me and with her children, and she was trying to get in front of the cameras, and to push her children and instructed her children to look this way and look that way. And the first photographs that appeared were of me with her children.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall that in the note your husband left about the Walker incident, that there was a reference to the Red Cross, and that you might get help there? Did you ever obtain any help from the Red Cross before that date?
Mrs. Oswald. No, never.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know any reason why your husband put that in the note?
Mrs. Oswald. Well, because the Red Cross is an organization in all countries which helps people who need help, and in case I needed help, since I have no relatives here, I would be able to obtain it from this organization.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know whether or not your husband received any help from the Red Cross in money payments while he was in Russia?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I don't.
Mr. Rankin. In that note you remember that there was a reference to an embassy—it didn't say which embassy. Do you know what embassy your husband was referring to?
Mrs. Oswald. He had in mind the Soviet Embassy.
Mr. Rankin. You told about the incident of De Mohrenschildt coming to the house and saying something about how your husband happened to miss, and your husband looked at you and looked at him, and seemed to think that you might have told. You have described that.
Now, did you have any cause to believe at that time that De Mohrenschildt knew anything about the Walker incident?
Mrs. Oswald. De Mohrenschildt didn't know anything about it. Simply he thought that this was something that Lee was likely to do. He simply made a joke and the joke happened to hit the target.
Mr. Rankin. Do you conclude that from what you knew about the situation or from something that De Mohrenschildt said at some time?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I know this, myself. I know that Lee could not have told him. And, otherwise, how would he have known?
Mr. Rankin. From your knowledge, were they close enough so that your husband would have made De Mohrenschildt a confidant about anything like that?
Mrs. Oswald. No matter how close Lee might be to anyone, he would not have confided such things.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall the money that your husband borrowed from the Embassy in Moscow to come to this country? Do you know where he got the money to repay that amount?
Mrs. Oswald. He worked and we paid out the debt. For six or seven months we were paying off this debt.
Mr. Rankin. Some of the payments were rather large during that period. Do you remember that?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. And no one will believe it—it may appear strange. But we lived very modestly. Perhaps for you it is hard to imagine how we existed.
Mr. Rankin. Did you handle the finances——
Mrs. Oswald. Of course we were economizing.
No, Lee always handled the money, but I bought groceries. He gave me money and I bought groceries, or more correctly, together.
Mr. Rankin. You would usually go to the grocery store together to buy what you needed?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. And then did he give you any funds separately from that, for you to spend alone?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, he would give it to me, but I would not take it.
Mr. Rankin. How much were those amounts?
Mrs. Oswald. Excuse me, I want to add something.
You asked me yesterday to make a list of how much we spent during a month—I forgot. Excuse me—I will do it today.
For example, when we paid $60 to $65 rent per month, we would spend only about $15 per week for groceries. As you see, I didn't die and I am not sick.
Mr. Rankin. Did you buy clothing for yourself?
Mrs. Oswald. Not everything. At first some of our Russian friends would occasionally give us some clothes. But Lee would also buy clothes for me. But in America this is no problem.
Mr. Rankin. What do you mean by that?
Mrs. Oswald. In my opinion life is not very expensive here. Everyone buys according to his financial status, and no one walks around undressed.
