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
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. It was a shack, near Sears Roebuck, as far as I
remember--near that area. I don't know if you went down there. A little
shack, which had only two rooms, sort of clapboard-type building. Very
poorly furnished, decrepit, on a dusty road. The road even was not
paved.
Mr. JENNER. What did you talk to her about?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Just asked her how she likes it here, and how
she was getting along, does she get enough food, something like
that--completely meaningless conversation.
And I think Lawrence was there, you know, but he did not understand
what I was saying. He doesn't know Russian.
Mr. JENNER. Did you ask about her husband?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I said, "Well, I would like to meet your
husband." She said he should be back from work soon. She asked me to
sit down, offered me something to drink, I think--she had some sherry
or something in the house. This is the best of my recollection.
And Lawrence sat down, and found her very nice. And then after a little
while, Oswald, Lee appeared.
Mr. JENNER. You say Lee appeared?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes, Lee appeared.
Mr. JENNER. Lee appeared. You had never seen him before?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Never seen him before.
Mr. JENNER. And he came in?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. He came in.
Mr. JENNER. What happened, and what was said?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, he loved to speak Russian.
Mr. JENNER. Did you introduce yourself? And explain why you were there?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Yes, I said, "I'm a friend of George Bouhe, I
want to see how you are getting along."
Mr. JENNER. Did you speak in Russian or English?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. In English at first, and then he switched to
Russian.
Mr. JENNER. What was your impression of his command of Russian?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Well, he spoke fluent Russian, but with a foreign
accent, and made mistakes, grammatical mistakes, but had remarkable
fluency in Russian.
Mr. JENNER. It was remarkable?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. Remarkable--for a fellow of his background and
education, it is remarkable how fast he learned it. But he loved the
language. He loved to speak it. He preferred to speak Russian than
English any time. He always would switch from English to Russian.
Mr. JENNER. Did you discuss life in Russia, how he got there?
Mr. DE MOHRENSCHILDT. I don't think the first time. I don't think the
first time I said anything at all, you know. Possibly he told me that
he had been in Minsk, and that got me curious, because I had lived in
Minsk as a child, and my father was the so-called nobility marshal of
Minsk. He got me curious, you know.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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