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

Oswald’s Initial Contact with the Russian-Speaking Community

The Commission found no basis to suppose Oswald came to Fort Worth specifically to establish contacts with the local Russian-speaking community; his mother had lived nearby, his brother Robert resided in Fort Worth, and he had spent several grammar-school years there. Upon arrival, Oswald did not know any members of the small community. He obtained the names of two Russian-speaking persons from the Texas Employment Commission. The first contact attempt failed, but the second—Peter Paul Gregory, a consulting petroleum engineer and part-time Russian-language instructor at the Fort Worth Public Library—proved productive. Gregory introduced the Oswalds to George Bouhe and Anna Meller of Dallas, through whom other members of the community became acquainted with the Oswalds.

Strained Relations Between the Oswalds and the Russian-Speaking Community

The Oswalds met approximately 30 persons in the Russian-speaking community, of whom 25 testified before the Commission or its staff. The relationship between Oswald and the community was short-lived and strained. During separations in October and November 1962, Marina and the baby stayed with various community members, including Elena Hall. Oswald openly resented the help his wife’s “Russian friends” provided and their efforts to induce Marina to leave him; George Bouhe, who had tried to dissuade Marina from returning to Oswald in November 1962, became displeased with her when she did. Relations had practically ceased by the end of 1962, as Katherine Ford summarized. After Oswald’s move to New Orleans in April 1963, only minor contact occurred until November 22, 1963, when Ilya Mamantov served as interpreter for Dallas Police questioning of Marina.