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

REPORT OF U.S. POSTAL INSPECTOR H. D. HOLMES

A formal report dated December 17, 1963, from U.S. Postal Inspector H. D. Holmes in Dallas, Texas, providing an informal memorandum of the interview he participated in with Lee Harvey Oswald on the morning of November 24, 1963.

MEMORANDUM OF INTERVIEW

The memorandum describes the interview conducted between approximately 9:25 a.m. and 11:10 a.m. on Sunday, November 24, 1963, with participants including Inspector Holmes, Captain Will Fritz of the Dallas Police, Forrest V. Sorrels (Local Agent in Charge, Secret Service), Thomas J. Kelly (Inspector, Secret Service), and three detectives assigned to guarding Oswald who did not participate in the interrogation.

CAPÍTULO II. With the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels of the

Chapter II, prepared with the assistance of Agent in Charge Sorrels, comprises a detailed account of Lee Harvey Oswald’s interrogation by Postal Inspector H. D. Holmes (with Captain Fritz) following the assassination of President Kennedy. The chapter covers Oswald’s demeanor and denials, his post office box rentals, organizational affiliations, Marine Corps service, a marked map of Dallas, his activities around the assassination, and the A. J. Hidell identification card. The section concludes with a transition describing Oswald’s transfer to the County Jail and the beginning of Appendix XII on Speculations and Rumors.

Oswald’s Interrogation Demeanor and Assassination Denial

Oswald’s Interrogation Demeanor and Assassination Denial Holmes characterized Oswald as alert, composed, and mentally disciplined, quick to answer questions he wished to address and skillful at parrying those he did not. Holmes doubted Oswald would ever have confessed. Oswald emphatically denied any involvement in or knowledge of the shootings of Officer Tippit and President Kennedy, claiming his detention stemmed solely from having “popped a policeman in the nose in a theater on Jefferson Avenue.”

P.O. Boxes

P. O. Boxes Oswald was questioned about three rented post office boxes. Box 2915 at the Main Post Office was rented in his own name prior to his move to New Orleans, with two keys, and used solely by him. He denied ever ordering a rifle or money order through it and claimed he owned no rifle other than possibly a small-bore .22 since his Marine Corps days. A New Orleans box (30061) was used for subscriptions, including Russian publications, and the application listed Marina Oswald and A. J. Hidell as persons entitled to receive mail—Oswald explained his wife’s inclusion but merely shrugged at Hidell’s. Box 6225 at the Terminal Annex postal station, rented after his return to Dallas, listed “Fair Play For Cuba Committee” and “American Civil Liberties Union” as the corporation, details Oswald professed not to recall, though he admitted paying the rental himself.

Organizations - Membership In

Organizations - Membership In Oswald was evasive about ACLU membership. He described the Fair Play for Cuba Committee as a loosely organized group in New Orleans that he essentially served as secretary, writing letters and attempting to collect monthly dues of $1.00, while denying he was sent to Dallas to organize a local cell. He emphatically denied being a communist, insisting he was a pure Marxist and distinguishing communism as Lenin-Marxism. He stated Karl Marx was his religion, dismissed the Bible as uninteresting and philosophically weak, and claimed to have read nearly everything written by or about Marx.

Marine Corp Service

Marine Corp Service Oswald bristled when Captain Fritz mentioned a dishonorable discharge, insisting his discharge had originally been honorable and was changed only because he had attempted to renounce his American citizenship while in Russia. When that renunciation did not materialize, he wrote to Secretary of the Navy Connally, who replied respectfully but indicated the matter would be referred to his successor (named by Oswald as Cork, Kurth, or something similar) since Connally was resigning to run for Governor of Texas. Oswald showed no particular animosity toward Connally during this discussion.

Map

Map Oswald explained that a map of Dallas found among his effects was an old city map on which he had marked X’s to denote the locations of firms advertising job vacancies, since he had no transportation and relied on walking or buses. Most of the marked locations were in the Industrial area. He stated he learned of his Texas School Book Depository job through general neighborhood information, primarily from people near Mrs. Payne’s home, and the X at Elm and Houston marked the spot where he had been hired.