in order to be able to stay in the country.
Mrs. Oswald. I understand that.
Mr. Rankin. And you have come here because you want to tell us what you could about this matter, is that right?
Mrs. Oswald. This is my voluntary wish, and no one forced me to do this.
Mr. Rankin. Did these various people from the police and the Secret Service and the FBI treat you courteously when they asked you about the matters that they did, concerning the assassination and things leading up to it?
Mrs. Oswald. I have a very good opinion about the Secret Service, and the people in the police department treated me very well. But the FBI agents were somehow polite and gruff. Sometimes they would mask a gruff question in a polite form.
Mr. Rankin. Did you see anyone from the Immigration Service during this period of time?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. Do you know who that was?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember the name. I think he is the chairman of that office. At least he was a representative of that office.
Mr. Rankin. By "that office" you mean the one at Dallas?
Mrs. Oswald. I was told that he had especially come from New York, it seems to me.
Mr. Rankin. What did he say to you?
Mrs. Oswald. That if I was not guilty of anything, if I had not committed any crime against this Government, then I had every right to live in this country. This was a type of introduction before the questioning by the FBI. He even said that it would be better for me if I were to help them.
Mr. Rankin. Did he explain to you what he meant by being better for you?
Mrs. Oswald. In the sense that I would have more rights in this country. I understood it that way.
Mr. Rankin. Did you understand that you were being threatened with deportation if you didn't answer these questions?
Mrs. Oswald. No, I did not understand it that way.
You see, it was presented in such a delicate form, but there was a clear implication that it would be better if I were to help.
Mr. Rankin. Did you——
Mrs. Oswald. This was only felt. It wasn't said in actual words.
Mr. Rankin. Did you feel that it was a threat?
Mrs. Oswald. This was not quite a threat—it was not a threat. But it was their great desire that I be in contact, in touch with the FBI. I sensed that.
Mr. Rankin. But you did not consider it to be a threat to you?
Mrs. Oswald. No.
Mr. Rankin. Did anyone indicate that it would affect your ability to work in this country if you cooperated?
Mrs. Oswald. Excuse me. No.
Mr. Rankin. Is there anything else about your treatment by law enforcement officials during this period that you would like to tell the Commission about?
Mrs. Oswald. I think that the FBI agents knew that I was afraid that after everything that had happened I could not remain to live in this country, and they somewhat exploited that for their own purposes, in a very polite form, so that you could not say anything after that. They cannot be accused of anything. They approached it in a very clever, contrived way.
Mr. Rankin. Was there anyone else of the law enforcement officials that you felt treated you in that manner?
Mrs. Oswald. No. As for the rest, I was quite content. Everyone was very attentive towards me.
Mr. Rankin. Where were you on the morning of November 24th when your husband was killed?
Mrs. Oswald. The night from the 23d to the 24th I spent at a hotel in Dallas, together with the mother. She wanted to make sure that the Life reporters who had taken this room would pay for it, as they had promised. But they disappeared. Then she telephoned Robert, it seems to me, and Gregory—no, Mr. Gregory. And I know that he came with Robert, and Robert paid for the room. And, after that, after we left the hotel, we met with the Secret Service agents. I wanted to see Lee, and we were supposed to go to the police station to see him.
Mr. Rankin. That was on November 24th, on Sunday?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes.
Mr. Rankin. And then what happened?
Mrs. Oswald. I don't remember whether we went to Ruth to take my things or perhaps—in general, I remember that en route, in the car, Mike Howard or Charley Kunkel said that Lee had been shot today.
At first he said that it wasn't serious—perhaps just not to frighten me. I was told that he had been taken to a hospital, and then I was told that he had been seriously wounded.
Then they had to telephone somewhere. They stopped at the house of the chief of police, Curry. From there, I telephone Ruth to tell her that I wanted to take several things which I needed with me and asked her to prepare them. And that there was a wallet with money and Lee's ring.
Soon after that—Robert was no longer with me, but Gregory was there, and the mother, and the Secret Service agents. They said that Lee had died.
After that, we went to the Motel Inn, the Six Flags Inn, where I stayed for several days—perhaps two weeks—I don't know.
Mr. Rankin. Do you recall what time of the day you heard that your husband had been shot?
Mrs. Oswald. Two o'clock in the afternoon, I think.
Mr. Rankin. And where were you at that time?
Mrs. Oswald. I was in a car.
Mr. Rankin. Just riding around, or at some particular place?
Mrs. Oswald. No, not at two o'clock—earlier. Lee was shot at 11 o'clock. It was probably close to 12 o'clock. He died at one.
Mr. Rankin. And where was the car that you were in at that time?
Mrs. Oswald. We were on the way to Chief Curry, en route from the hotel.
Mr. Rankin. What did you do after you went to the motel?
Mrs. Oswald. I left with Robert and we prepared for the funeral.
Then Ruth Paine sent my things to me via the agent.
Mr. Gopadze. She would like a recess for a little while. She has a headache.
The Chairman. Yes, we will recess.
(Brief recess)
The Chairman. The Commission will be in order. Do you feel refreshed now, Mrs. Oswald, ready to proceed?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, thank you.
The Chairman. Very well.
Mr. Rankin?
