Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)United States. Warren Commission
History
Warren Commission (09 of 26): Hearings Vol. IX (of 15)
United States. Warren Commission
Kennedy, John F. (John Fitzgerald), 1917-1963 -- Assassination; Oswald, Lee Harvey
The first time he was released, the Poles arrived, we were in Poland
again, that was a temporary occupation. And then the Poles retreated
and the Russians arrived again. And here was the question to decide
whether we should go with the Poles or stay in Russia. And my father
decided to stay in Russia because being a liberal he had an impression
that they have changed.
Mr. JENNER. That the Russians had changed?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes; he heard from somebody that they have
become liberal. He stayed in Minsk, and because he stayed he got some
kind of an appointment in the Soviet Government. I don't remember
which one it was. I guess in the Department of Agriculture, because
he was interested in division of big estates. That was his idea--what
was going on in Russia was opposed by the huge estates. We had one,
also, but not as big. So he was always in favor of the division of
the big estates, breaking them up into smaller farms. And he had this
appointment, adviser to the Minister of Agriculture--I don't remember
what it was exactly. And we lived more or less happily for a certain
number of months--although there was a famine there.
Mr. JENNER. Now, you are still in Minsk?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Still in Minsk; yes--in probably 1920. And then
one day they arrested him again. And here is what happened. I will show
you what kind of a person he was. At the time they were installing
museums in churches. And my father objected to that.
Mr. JENNER. Your father was a religious man, was he?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. No; he was not religious. But he objected by
principle to that. He was not very religious at all. But he objected
to the intervention into other people's faith. We never had too
much religion in the family. And he was put in jail. And started
criticizing the Soviet Government. And, finally--I remember this more
distinctly--because he was finally sentenced to life exile to Siberia.
And that I will never forget about my father--an interesting thing.
Mr. JENNER. He was banished to Siberia by the Russians?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes.
Mr. JENNER. These are the Bolsheviks who had conducted the revolution.
This was a revolutionary period?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. That is right. This is 1921 by now.
Mr. JENNER. You are now 10 years old?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I remained on the street making my own living
somehow. My mother runs around the country trying to save my father. He
is in jail for the second time, and finally he gets sentenced to life
imprisonment in a town called Vieliki Ustug in Siberia. This is as far
as I remember the name of it.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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