MikhailT/lj-speech huggingface dataset:
which would achieve the goal, which was, quote, the emplacement of a separate, democratic, pure communist society
but one with union communes,
democratic socializing of production, and without regard to the twisting apart of Marxism Marxist Communism by other powers.
While, quote, resourcefulness and patient working towards the aforesaid goals
are preferred rather than loud and useless manifestations of protest, end quote, Oswald went on to note, quote,
But these preferred tactics now may prove to be too limited in the near future,
they should not be confused with slowness, indecision or fear. Only the intellectually fearless could even be remotely attracted to our doctrine,
and yet this doctrine requires the utmost, utmost restraint, a state of being in itself majestic in power, end quote.
Oswald's decided rejection of both capitalism and communism
seemed to place him in a situation in which he could not live with satisfaction either in the United States or in the Soviet Union.
The discussion above has already set forth examples of his expression of hatred for the United States.
He also expressed hatred of the Soviet Union and of the Communist Party, U.S.A.,
even though he later referred to the latter as, quote, trusted long time fighters for progress, end quote.
He wrote, quote, The Communist Party of the United States has betrayed itself!
It has turned itself into the traditional lever of a foreign power to overthrow the government of the United States;
not in the name of freedom or high ideals,
but in servile conformity to the wishes of the Soviet Union and in anticipation of Soviet Russia's complete domination of the American continent.
There can be no sympathy for those who have turned the idea of communism into a vile curse to Western man.
The Soviets have committed crimes unsurpassed even by their early day capitalist counterparts, the imprisonment of their own peoples,
with the mass extermination so typical of Stalin, and the individual suppression and regimentation under Khrushchev.
The deportations, the purposeful curtailment of diet in the consumer slighted population of Russia,
the murder of history, the prostitution of art and culture, end quote.
A suggestion that Oswald hated more than just capitalism and communism
is provided by the following, which was apparently written either on the ship coming back, or after his return from the Soviet Union, quote,
I have often wondered why it is that the communist, anarchist capitalist, and even the fascist and anarchist elements in American,
always profess patriotism toward the land and the people, if not the government; although their ideals movements must surely lead
to the bitter destruction of all and everything. I am quite sure these people must hate not only the government
but our, the people, culture, traditions, heritage, and very people itself, and yet
they stand up and piously pronounce themselves patriots, displaying their war medals that they gained in conflicts long past between themselves.
I wonder what would happen it somebody was to stand up and say he was utterly opposed not only to the governments, but to the people,
to the entire land and complete foundations of his society, end quote.
Oswald demonstrated his thinking in connection with his return to the United States by preparing two sets of identical questions of the type which he might have thought
he would be asked at a press conference when he returned.
With either great ambivalence, or cold calculation he prepared completely different answers to the same questions.
Judged by his other statements and writings, however, he appears to have indicated his true feelings in the set of answers first presented
and to have stated in the second what he thought would be least harmful to him as he resumed life in the United States.
For example, in response to his questions about his decision to go to the Soviet Union, his first draft answered, quote,
as a mark of discuss and protest against American political policies in foreign countries, my personal sign of discontent
and horror at the misguided line of reasoning of the United States Government, end quote.
His second answer was that he, quote, went as a citizen of the U.S. (as a tourist) residing in a foreign country which I have a perfect right to do.
I went there to see the land, the people and how their system works, end quote.
To the question of, quote, Are you a Communist? End quote, he first answered "Yes,"
basically, although I hate the USSR and socialist system I still think marxism can work under different circumstances, end quote.
His second answer to this question was, quote, No of course not,
I have never even know a communist, outside of the ones in the USSR but you can't help that, end quote.
His first set of questions and answers indicated his belief that there were no outstanding differences between the Soviet Union and the United States,
quote, except in the US, the living standard is a little higher.
Freedoms are about the same. Medical aid and the educational system in the USSR is better than in the USA, end quote.
In the second simulated transcript which ended with the statement, quote, Newspapers thank you, sir. You are a real patriot! End quote.
He apparently concluded that the United States offered, quote,
freedom of speech, travel outspoken opposition to unpopular policies, freedom to believe in god, end quote, while the Soviet Union did not.
Despite the hatred that Oswald expressed toward the Soviet Union after his residence there,
he continued to be interested in that country after he returned to the United States.
Soon after his arrival he wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington
requesting information on how to subscribe to Russian newspapers and magazines and asked for, quote,
Oswald subsequently did subscribe to several Soviet journals.
While Marina Oswald tried to obtain permission to return to the Soviet Union, she testified that she did so at her husband's insistence.
In July of 1963, Oswald also requested the Soviet Union to provide a visa for his return to that country.
In August of 1963, he gave the New Orleans police as a reason for refusing to permit his family to learn English,
that, quote, he hated America and he did not want them to become Americanized, and that his plans were to go back to Russia, end quote.
Even though his primary purpose probably was to get to Cuba,
He sought an immediate grant of visa on his trip to Mexico City in late September of 1963.
He also inquired about visas for himself and his wife
Background and Possible Motives, Part 4.
Personal Relations
Apart from his relatives, Oswald had no friends or close associates in Texas when he returned there in June of 1962,
and he did not establish any close friendships or associations, although it appears that he came to respect George De Mohrenschildt.
Somewhat of a nonconformist,
De Mohrenschildt was a peripheral member of the so-called Russian community, with which Oswald made contact through Mr. Peter Gregory,
a Russian-speaking petroleum engineer whom Oswald met as a result of his contact with the Texas Employment Commission office in Fort Worth.
Some of the members of that group saw a good deal of the Oswalds through the fall of 1963,
and attempted to help Mrs. Oswald particularly, in various ways. In general, Oswald did not like the members of the Russian community.
In fact, his relations with some of them, particularly George Bouhe, became quite hostile.
Part of the problem resulted from the fact that, as Jeanne De Mohrenschildt testified,
Oswald was, quote, very, very disagreeable and disappointed, end quote,
He also expressed considerable resentment at the help given to his wife by her Russian-American friends.
Jeanne De Mohrenschildt said, quote,
Marina had a hundred dresses given to her, and he objected to that lavish help, because Marina was throwing it into his face.
He was offensive with the people. And I can understand why, because that hurt him.
He could never give her what the people were showering on her no matter how hard he worked -- and he worked very hard, end quote.
The relations between Oswald and his wife became such that Bouhe wanted to "liberate" her from Oswald.
While the exact sequence of events is not clear because of conflicting testimony,
it appears that De Mohrenschildt and his wife actually went to Oswald's apartment early in November of 1962
and helped to move the personal effects of Marina Oswald and the baby.
Even though it appears that they may have left Oswald a few days before, it seems that he resisted the move as best he could.
He even threatened to tear up his wife's dresses and break all the baby things. According to De Mohrenschildt,
Oswald submitted to the inevitable, presumably because he was, quote, small, you know, and he was rather a puny individual, end quote,
De Mohrenschildt said that the whole affair made him nervous since he was, quote, interfering in other people's affairs, after all, end quote.
Oswald attempted to get his wife to come back and, over Bouhe's protest, De Mohrenschildt finally told him where she was.
De Mohrenschildt admitted that, quote,
If somebody did that to me, a lousy trick like that, to take my wife away, and all the furniture, I would be mad as hell, too.
I am surprised that he didn't do something worse, end quote.
After about a 2-week separation, Marina Oswald returned to her husband.
Bouhe thoroughly disapproved of this and as a result almost all communication between the Oswalds and members of the Russian community ceased.
Contacts with De Mohrenschildt and his wife did continue and they saw the Oswalds occasionally until the spring of 1963.
Shortly after his return from the Soviet Union, Oswald severed all relations with his mother;
he did not see his brother Robert from Thanksgiving of 1962 until November 23, 1963.
At the time of his defection, Oswald had said that neither his brother, Robert,
nor his mother were objects of his affection, quote, but only examples of workers in the U.S., end quote.
He also indicated to officials at the American Embassy in Moscow that his defection was motivated at least in part
by so-called exploitation of his mother by the capitalist system.
Consistent with this attitude
He first told his wife that he did not have a mother, but later admitted that he did but that, quote, he didn't love her very much, end quote.
When they arrived from the Soviet Union, Oswald and his family lived at first with his brother Robert.
The latter testified that they, quote, were just together again, end quote, as if his brother, quote, had not been to Russia, end quote.
He also said that he and his family got along well with Marina Oswald and enjoyed showing her American things.
After about a month with his brother,
Oswald and his family lived for a brief period with his mother at her urging, but Oswald soon decided to move out.
Marguerite Oswald visited her son and his family at the first apartment which he rented after his return, and tried to help them get settled there.
After she had bought some clothes for Marina Oswald and a highchair for the baby, Oswald emphatically told her to stop.
As Marguerite Oswald testified, quote,
he strongly put me in my place about buying things for his wife that he himself could not buy, end quote.
Oswald objected to his mother visiting the apartment
and became quite incensed with his wife when she would open the door for her in spite of his instructions to the contrary.
Oswald moved to Dallas on about October 8, 1962, without telling his mother where he was going.
He never saw or communicated with her in any way again until she came to see him after the assassination.
Even though Oswald cut off relations with his mother,
he attempted for the first time to learn something about his family background when he went to New Orleans in April of 1963.
He visited some of his father's elderly relatives and the cemetery where his father was buried in an effort to develop the facts of his genealogy.
While it does not appear that he established any new relationships as a result of his investigation, he did obtain a large picture of his father
from one of the elderly relatives with whom he spoke. Oswald's interest in such things presents a sharp contrast with his attitude
at the time of his defection, when he evidenced no interest in his father and hardly mentioned him, even when questioned.
Oswald's defection, his interest in the Soviet Union, and his activities on behalf of the Fair Play for Cuba Committee
not only caused him difficulties in his employment relations, but they also provided him with excuses for employment failures
which were largely of his own making.
Oswald experienced some difficulty finding employment. Perhaps this was partially because of his lack of any specific skill or training.
Some of his acquaintances, feeling that Oswald tried to impress people with the fact that he had lived and worked in Russia, were led to the belief
that his employment difficulties were caused by his telling prospective employers that he had last been employed in Minsk.
While he might have expected difficulty from such an approach, in fact
the evidence indicates that Oswald usually told his prospective employers and employment counselors that he had recently been discharged from the Marine Corps.
Oswald obtained a job in July of 1962 as a sheet metal worker with a company in Fort Worth.
His performance for that company was satisfactory.
Even though he told his wife that he had been fired, he voluntarily left on October 8, 1962, and moved to Dallas.
On October 9, 1962 he went to the Dallas office of the Texas Employment Commission
where he expressed a reluctance to work in the industrial field.
He indicated an interest in writing. An employment counselor testified, on the basis of a general aptitude test Oswald had taken,
that he had some aptitude in that area, quote, because the verbal score is high and the clerical score is high, end quote,
While that counselor found that he was qualified to handle many different types of jobs,
because of his need for immediate employment she attempted to obtain for him any job that was available at the time. Oswald made qualifying marks
in 19 of 23 categories included on the general aptitude examination and scored 127 on the verbal test, as compared
with 50 percent of the people taking it who score less than 100.
The counselor testified that there was some indication that Oswald was capable of doing college work
and noted that Oswald's verbal and clerical potential was, quote, outstanding, end quote.
Employment Commission records concerning Oswald stated, quote, Well-groomed & spoken,
business suit, alert replies -- Expresses self extremely well, end quote.
Oswald said that he hoped eventually to develop qualifications for employment as a junior executive
through a work-study program at a local college.
He indicated, however, that he would have to delay that program because of his immediate financial needs and responsibilities.
On October 11, 1962, the Employment Commission referred Oswald
to a commercial advertising photography firm in Dallas, where he was employed as a trainee starting October 12, 1962.
Even though Oswald indicated that he liked photographic work, his employer found that he was not an efficient worker.
He was not able to produce photographic work
which adhered with sufficient precision to the job specifications and as a result too much of his work had to be redone.
He also had difficulty in working with the other employees.
This was at least in part because of the close physical confines in which some of the work had to be done.
He did not seem to be able to make the accommodations necessary when people work under such conditions and as a result
became involved in conflicts, some of which were fairly heated, with his fellow employees.
In February or March of 1963,
it began to appear that Oswald was having considerable difficulty doing accurate work and in getting along with the other employees.
It appears that his discharge was hastened by the fact that he brought a Russian language newspaper to work.
It is not possible to tell whether Oswald did this to provide an excuse for his eventual discharge,
or whether he brought the Russian language newspaper with him one day after his other difficulties became clear.
It is possible that his immediate supervisor noticed the newspaper at that time because his attention had otherwise been drawn more directly to Oswald.
In any event, Oswald was discharged on April 6, 1963, ostensibly because of his inefficiency and difficult personality.
His supervisor admitted, however,
that while he did not fire Oswald because of the newspaper incident or even weigh it heavily in his decision, quote,
it didn't do his case any good, end quote.
Upon moving to New Orleans on April 24, 1963,
Oswald's employment problems became more difficult. He left his wife and child at the home of a friend, Mrs. Ruth Paine, of Irving, Texas.
In New Orleans he obtained work as a greaser and oiler of coffee processing machines for the William B. Reily Co.,
beginning May 10, 1963.
After securing this job and an apartment, Oswald asked his wife to join him.
Mrs. Paine brought Oswald's family to New Orleans.
Refusing to admit that he could only get work as a greaser,
Oswald told his wife and Mrs. Paine that he was working as a commercial photographer.
He lost his job on July 19, 1963, because his work was not satisfactory
and because he spent too much time loitering in the garage next door, where he read rifle and hunting magazines.
Oswald apparently concluded that his Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities were not related to his discharge.
The correctness of that conclusion is supported by the fact that he does not seem to have been publicly identified with that organization until August 9,
1963, almost a month after he lost his job.
His Fair Play for Cuba Committee activities, however, made it more difficult for him to obtain other employment.
A placement interviewer of the Louisiana Department of Labor
who had previously interviewed Oswald, saw him on television and heard a radio debate in which he engaged on August 21, 1963.
He consulted with his supervisor and, quote, it was determined that we should not undertake to furnish employment references for him, end quote.
Ironically, he failed to get a job in another photographic firm after his return to Dallas in October of 1963,
because the president of the photographic firm for which he had previously worked
told the prospective employer that Oswald was, quote, kinda peculiar sometimes and that he had some knowledge of the Russian language, end quote.
and that he, quote, may be a damn Communist. I can't tell you. If I was you, I wouldn't hire him, end quote.
The plant superintendent of the new firm testified that, one of the employees of the old firm, quote,
implied that Oswald's fellow employees did not like him because he was propagandizing
and had been seen reading a foreign newspaper, end quote.
As a result Oswald was not hired.
He subsequently found a job with the Texas School Book Depository for which he performed his duties satisfactorily.
Attack on General Walker
The Commission has concluded that on April 10, 1963,
Oswald shot at Maj. Gen. Edwin A. Walker (Resigned, U.S. Army),
demonstrating once again his propensity to act dramatically and, in this instance violently, in furtherance of his beliefs.
The shooting occurred 2 weeks before Oswald moved to New Orleans and a few days after he had been discharged by the photographic firm.
As indicated in chapter 4, Oswald had been planning his attack on General Walker for at least 1 and perhaps as much as 2 months.
He outlined his plans in a notebook and studied them at considerable length before his attack.
He also studied Dallas bus schedules to prepare for his later use of buses to travel to and from General Walker's house.
Sometime after March 27, but according to Marina Oswald, prior to April 10, 1963,
Oswald posed for two pictures
with his recently acquired rifle and pistol, a copy of the March 24, 1963, issue of the Worker,
and the March 11, 1963, issue of the Militant.
He told his wife that he wanted to send the pictures to the Militant and he also asked her to keep one of the pictures for his daughter, June.
Following his unsuccessful attack on Walker, Oswald returned home.
He had left a note for his wife telling her what to do in case he were apprehended, as well as his notebook and the pictures of himself holding the rifle.
She testified that she was agitated because she had found the note in Oswald's room,
where she had gone, contrary to his instructions, after she became, worried about his absence.
She indicated that she had no advance knowledge of Oswald's plans,
that she became quite angry when Oswald told her what he had done, and that she made him promise never to repeat such a performance.
She said that she kept the note to use against him, quote, if something like that should be repeated again, end quote.
When asked if Oswald requested the note back she testified that, quote, He forgot about it. But apparently
after he thought that what he had written in his book might be proof against him, and he destroyed it (the book), end quote.
She later gave the following testimony. Question:
After he brought the rifle home, then, he showed you the book?
Answer: Yes. Question: And you said it was not a good idea to keep this book? Answer: Yes.
Question: And then he burned the book?
Question: Did you ask him why he had not destroyed the book before he actually went to shoot General Walker?
Answer: It never came to me, myself, to ask him that question.
Marina Oswald's testimony indicates that her husband was not particularly concerned about his continued possession of the most incriminating sort of evidence.
If he had been successful and had been apprehended even for routine questioning, his apartment would undoubtedly have been searched,
and his role would have been made clear by the evidence which he had left behind.
Leaving the note and picture as he did would seem to indicate that he had considered the possibility of capture.
Possibly he might have wanted to be caught, and wanted his involvement made clear if he was in fact apprehended.
Even after his wife told him to destroy the notebook
he removed at least some of the pictures which had been pasted in it and saved them among his effects, where they were found after the assassination.
His behavior was entirely consistent with his wife's testimony that, quote,
I asked him what for he was making all these entries in the book and he answered that he wanted to leave a complete record so that all the details would be in it.
I am guessing that perhaps he did it to appear to be a brave man in case he were arrested, but that is my supposition, end quote.
The attempt on General Walker's life deserves close attention in any consideration of Oswald's possible motive for the assassination
and the trail of evidence he left behind him on that occasion.
While there are differences between the two events as far as Oswald's actions and planning are concerned, there are also similarities that should be considered.
The items which Oswald left at home when he made his attack on Walker suggest a strong concern for his place in history.
If the attack had succeeded and Oswald had been caught, the pictures showing him with his rifle
and his Communist and Socialist Worker's Party newspapers would probably have appeared on the front pages of newspapers or magazines all over the country,
as, in fact, one of them did appear after the assassination.
The circumstances of the attack on Walker coupled with other indications that Oswald was concerned about his place in history
and with the circumstances surrounding the assassination, have led the Commission to believe
that such concern is an important factor to consider in assessing possible motivation for the assassination.
In any event, the Walker incident indicates that in spite of the belief among those who knew him that he was apparently not dangerous,
Oswald did not lack the determination and other traits required
to carry out a carefully planned killing of another human being and was willing to consummate such a purpose if he thought there was sufficient reason to do so.