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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. II - Page 339« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Peter Paul Gregory)

Mr. Gregory.
present day life in the Soviet Union, I was asking him questions, asked how people lived there, and so forth.
He told me that he was employed in a factory in Minsk as a sheetmetal worker. He told me a little bit about the working conditions and living conditions in that country.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you how he was paid as a worker?
Mr. Gregory.
Yes; I think I asked him what he was paid and my recollection is that he told me he was getting about 80 rubles a month. I may be wrong about that but that is my recollection.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he compare his salary with the salary of other workers in Russia?
Mr. Gregory.
Other workers in the Soviet Union?
Mr. Liebeler.
Yes.
Mr. Gregory.
No, he did not. By way of comparison, I was curious as to what the purchasing power of his earnings would be, I asked him what 80 rubles would buy, and I think he mentioned, as I say, a pair of shoes cost around 15 rubles.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he indicate to you that he had any source of income other than his job at the factory?
Mr. Gregory.
No, sir; he did not.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you anything about why he went to Russia?
Mr. Gregory.
The only statement he made that I remember, he said, "I went to the Soviet Union on my own," but I did not feel like prying into his affairs. I did not press the question.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you notice anything about the way he was dressed or anything else about him that would seem strange to you?
Mr. Gregory.
Yes; it was a very hot mourning. You know in Texas in the middle of June, it is generally hot. I remember that he wore a flannel, woolen coat. suit, and atrocious looking shoes that were made in Russia.
I know he was very uncomfortable because he was too warmly dressed for that time of the year.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did Mr. Oswald tell you anything else at that time about conditions in the Soviet Union or his attempt to come back to the United States or bringing his wife back that you can recall?
Mr. Gregory.
I don't recall of anything outstanding that he told me. But I think be did tell me that they, he and his wife, left Moscow by train, and they went through East Germany to Berlin, I believe, and that their destination was Amsterdam, I believe, where they took a ship to come to New York.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he express anything about any difficulties that he might have had in returning to the United States?
Mr. Gregory.
No, sir; not to my recollection.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did it seen extraordinary to you that his wife was able to leave the Soviet Union with him or didn't you think about that?
Mr. Gregory.
I thought at the time it was more than extraordinary.
Mr. Liebeler.
Why do you say that?
Mr. Gregory.
Because simply from reading accounts of the difficulties experienced by so many Americans who married Russian girls in the Soviet Union, and all the difficulties they had to secure permits from the Soviet Government for an exit visa for their wives.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you discuss that with Mr. Oswald?
Mr. Gregory.
I did not.
Mr. Liebeler.
When was the next time you saw him?
Mr. Gregory.
The next time was a few days later, and the occasion was this, to the best of my recollection. My youngest son Paul, who at the time was a junior at the University of Oklahoma, Paul majoring in economies and also studying the Russian and the German languages, Paul expressed a wish to meet Marina Oswald simply because she was fresh from the country, Russia; that presumably her language was pure Russian language as compared to mine which became, shall we say, affected by my 40 years living in the United States, is not pure Russian any more probably, in fact, he thought that maybe he could take lessons of the Russian language from Marina Oswald.
So, I arranged; I called Lee Oswald at his brother's residence, and asked if
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