Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the (Part 13 of 21)

Lee Harvey Oswald was born October 18, 1939, to Marguerite Claverie Oswald and Robert Edward Lee Oswald. Marguerite had married Edward John Pic Jr. in 1929, separated summer 1931, and given birth to John Edward Pic January 17, 1932. After divorcing Pic in 1933, she married Robert Oswald July 20, 1933, and had Robert Jr. April 7, 1934. Robert Sr. died of a heart attack August 19, 1939. After selling the Alvar Street house, she placed John and Robert in the Bethlehem Children’s Home January 1942 and Lee there December 26. She worked as a telephone operator, in a hosiery shop, and at Martin’s Department Store in Brooklyn, leaving Lee with her sister Lillian Murret. Lee’s New York truancy was severe; he attended only 15 full days and 2 half-days of 64 at Public School 117. After a court appearance, he was remanded to Youth House for psychiatric study; Dr. Renatus Hartogs recommended probation with referral to a child guidance clinic. On his second New York visit in August 1952 with Robert, Lee visited the Museum of Natural History and Polk’s Hobby Shop, but his relationship with John’s wife deteriorated after he threatened her with a pocket knife. After multiple moves, the family returned to New Orleans around January 10, 1954. Lee enrolled at Beauregard Junior High School January 13 and completed the year without difficulty. In October 1954, he performed well in reading and vocabulary but poorly in mathematics. By spring 1955, he was reading Communist literature from the public library. In October 1955, he presented a forged note in his mother’s name to Warren Easton High School to withdraw, then attempted to enlist in the Marines using a false affidavit claiming he was 17. After failing, he spent a year reading the Marine Manual obtained from Robert. He worked as a messenger and office boy in New Orleans until enlisting October 24, 1956, six days after his seventeenth birthday.

Oswald reported for duty at the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego October 26, 1956, standing 68 inches tall and weighing 135 pounds. He scored above average in reading and vocabulary but below average in arithmetic and pattern analysis, with a composite score of 105. On December 21, he scored 212, qualifying as a sharpshooter. His conduct and proficiency ratings at San Diego were 4.4 and 4.0. At Camp Pendleton and at the Naval Air Technical Training Center in Jacksonville, Florida, his ratings improved. At Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi, Mississippi, where he completed the Aircraft Control and Warning Operator Course seventh in a class of 30, his conduct and proficiency were 4.2 and 4.5. Fellow marines at El Toro, California, where he was assigned to Marine Air Control Squadron No. 9, found him competent but deficient in disciplinary matters. He was known as “Ozzie Rabbit” and “Oswaldskovich.” He read Das Kapital, Animal Farm, and 1984, played chess always choosing the red pieces for the “Red Army,” and expressed sympathy for Castro’s government. He was rated “poor” on a Russian foreign language qualification test February 25, 1959. On March 23, he took the General Educational Development tests, scoring in the 76th and 79th U.S. percentiles in English composition and physical sciences. He had applied to Albert Schweitzer College in Switzerland, with the application approved and a $25 registration fee enclosed. On September 4, 1959, he applied for a passport at the Superior Court of Santa Ana, California, listing intended travel to Switzerland, Finland, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, England, France, Germany, and Russia. He was discharged from active duty September 11 and transferred to the Marine Corps Reserve, but received an undesirable discharge from the Reserve September 13, 1960, after his defection. On September 17, he booked passage on the SS Marion Lykes from New Orleans to Le Havre, sailing September 20 with only four passengers.

chapter II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the (Part 14 of 21)

The Marion Lykes docked at Le Havre October 8, and Oswald flew to Helsinki the same day, registering at the Torni Hotel before moving to the Klaus Kurki Hotel. He applied for a Soviet visa at the Russian consulate October 12; the visa was issued October 14, valid until October 20. He purchased ten Soviet tourist vouchers at $30 each. He left Helsinki by train October 15, crossed at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow October 16, registering at the Hotel Berlin as a student and meeting Intourist guide Rima Shirokova, who helped him prepare a letter to the Supreme Soviet requesting citizenship. On October 19, he was interviewed by a man identifying himself as Radio Moscow’s Lev Setyayev, probably also KGB. On October 21, after visa expiration, Oswald slashed his left wrist above the elbow in a suicide attempt; Rima Shirokova found him unconscious and had him taken to Botkinskaya Hospital for three days in the psychiatric ward. After release, he moved to the Hotel Metropole, where he was told the Pass and Registration Office would discuss his future. On October 31, he took a taxi to the American Embassy and asked to see the consul, stating he wished to “dissolve his American citizenship.” Second Secretary Richard E. Snyder and John A. McVickar interviewed Oswald, saying he could renounce citizenship the following Monday if he appeared in person. On November 3, Oswald wrote the Embassy requesting revocation of his citizenship.

On November 13, Aline Mosby of United Press International interviewed Oswald, the first non-Soviet citizen granted an interview since his meeting with Snyder. He told her he had saved $1,500 and had been interested in Communist theory since age 15. On November 16, Priscilla Johnson of the North American Newspaper Alliance conducted a five-hour interview in which Oswald named Marx and Engels as the only socialist writers he had read. On January 4, 1960, Oswald was summoned to the Soviet Passport Office and issued Identity Document for Stateless Persons No. 311479. He was told he was being sent to Minsk. The “Red Cross” gave him 5,000 rubles. He arrived in Minsk January 7 and reported for work at the Belorussian Radio and Television Factory January 13. He was assigned as a metal worker fashioning parts on a lathe at a salary of 700 to 900 rubles per month, supplemented by 700 rubles from the “Red Cross.” In March 1959, he was given a small rent-free apartment overlooking the river. In June, he obtained a hunting license and joined a local hunting club, hunting small game on approximately six occasions. In June or July, he met Ella German, a factory worker, and asked her to marry him January 2, 1960; she refused, citing fears arising from the Polish intervention of the 1920s.