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Warren Commission Hearings: Vol. VIII - Page 382« Previous | Next »

(Testimony of Anna N. Meller)

Mr. Liebeler.
It was quite clear to you at that time that Marina was not able to speak English?
Mrs. Meller.
Yes; absolutely not a word, absolutely not a word; however, he spoke Russian pretty good to understand, amazingly.
Mr. Liebeler.
Was his Russian grammatically correct?
Mrs. Meller.
Pretty correct.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you where he learned Russian?
Mrs. Meller.
I don't remember exactly. Later I heard certain somebody asked because we were wondering how he could speak and he said he took English in school and studied very much at home.
Mr. Liebeler.
Russian you mean.
Mrs. Meller.
Russian in school and studied at home very much with himself as Marina said later.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you think that his command of the Russian language was better than you would expect for the period of time that he had spent in Russia?
Mrs. Meller.
Yes; absolutely better than I would expect.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he ever indicate that he had gone to any school in Russia to learn Russian?
Mrs. Meller.
You know, he tried to not to speak much. He was not easy to come to it and speak. He will say some sentences and tried to be more quiet. He was on the quiet side but if he didn't like something, he would raise his voice and get very excited--upset.
Mr. Liebeler.
You said your first impression just was he appeared mentally sick. Can you tell us some of the specific reasons why you came to that conclusion?
Mrs. Meller.
Later on, when I saw him--I saw him two times or three in the whole period and I saw him mad about some things, about people tried to help Marina with warm clothes and baby clothes. He did not want to take anything.
He always said "I don't need". He was against everything and he did not want his wife try to speak English, not a single word.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did he tell you why he did not want her to learn English?
Mrs. Meller.
He said he wanted to learn better Russian. She has to speak Russian so he can speak better Russian; she don't need English.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did Oswald tell you at this first meeting why he went to Russia in the first place?
Mrs. Meller.
No; I do not recall.
Mr. Liebeler.
Let's go on and establish the other times that you saw Oswald and the circumstances and then I will ask you some questions about his experiences in Russia and you can tell me whether he ever told you about anything or when you learned about anything. When did you next see Oswald?
Mrs. Meller.
Later on, probably in the next month, we visited Marina Oswald about two or three times and during this time, couple times, probably one time we did not see him at all. He started to work somewhere and two times we met him we came close to five or probably close to six, to Fort Worth and he come straight from work, still in work clothes and we speak little bit this time. We brought--always for Marina, we brought some groceries for Marina, George Bouhe and I, some clothes to wear and for baby and I saw baby didn't have bed. Baby was sleeping on two suit cases, old suit cases. It was a made baby bed. I never talk much to Lee Oswald and he was pretty quiet most of the time. However, probably on the last time I went over their house, we stayed for hour there or maybe even less, give those things and, come back home. On the third time probably, I noticed in the living room on what you will call that table that the lamp was sitting near the divan. I notice several books; it was "Kapital" book Karl Marx and literature about Communism. It caught my eye and I was real upset.
Mr. Liebeler.
Did you say anything to Oswald?
Mrs. Liebeler.
I said to Marina "What's this book doing here", something like that. I mentioned something and she said Lee takes all those books from the library and reading them. I did not say much after but I was real upset.
Mr. Liebeler.
Was that the last time that you saw him?
Mrs. Meller.
It was maybe last time that we visited Marina in her house.
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