Although several people tried to help Marina improve her scanty knowledge of English, Oswald discouraged this,[A13-953] perhaps because he wanted to keep up his Russian.[A13-954] Some witnesses testified that she commented about his sexual abilities.[A13-955] He apparently continued to beat her, and once she suggested to George De Mohrenschildt that she should “get away” from Oswald. When De Mohrenschildt criticized Oswald’s conduct, Oswald replied, “It is my business.”[A13-956] Marina testified that when they moved into the Elsbeth Street apartment, her husband became “nervous and irritable” and was very angry over “trifles.”[A13-957] She said that it was sometimes her fault that he beat her,[A13-958] for example when she wrote to an old boyfriend in Russia that she wished she had married him; the letter was returned for postage due, and Oswald read it.[A13-959]
Because of this quarreling, a few of their acquaintances felt that Marina would be better off alone. George Bouhe offered to help her if she promised to leave Oswald permanently.[A13-960] Finally, in early November, Marina, helped by the De Mohrenschildts, moved into Anna Meller’s house with the intention not to return to Oswald. He was apparently quite upset and did not want Marina to leave him.[A13-961]
Oswald did not visit his wife at Anna Meller’s house,[A13-962] and for a short time did not even know where she was.[A13-963] According to Marina, he called her after she moved and they met at De Mohrenschildt’s house. He asked her to return home. She insisted that he stop quarreling and that he change his ways. He said that he could not change. Marina would not agree to return home with him and he left.[A13-964]
Marina was uncomfortable at the Meller house, where there was very little room. She moved to Katherine Ford’s house[A13-965] where she apparently stayed from November 11 to 17. She indicated that she had decided never to return to her husband;[A13-966] it was Mrs. Ford’s impression that Marina was going to stay at other people’s houses until a permanent place could be found for her.[A13-967] When Mr. Ford returned from a business trip on November 17, Marina and June moved to the home of Mrs. Frank Ray, where they spent the day. Mrs. Ray, the wife of a Dallas advertising man, was also of Russian origin. Since Mrs. Ray had no baby bed, Marina returned to the Fords that evening. On the next day, however, Marina moved her belongings to the Rays’ house. That same day, Oswald called and asked to visit his wife, whom he had called and written. Mr. Ray picked him up and took him to Marina.[A13-968]
Marina testified that at this meeting Oswald professed his love for her. She stated: “I saw him cry * * * [he] begged me to come back, asked my forgiveness, and promised that he would try to improve, if only I would come back.”[A13-969] On another occasion she said: “* * * he cried and you know a woman’s heart—I went back to him. He said he didn’t care to live if I did not return.”[A13-970] That same day she decided to return to him. Mr. Ray packed her belongings and took her back to the Elsbeth Street apartment.[A13-971]
Members of the Russian community who had taken care of Marina so that she would not have to live with Oswald felt that their efforts had been in vain. George Bouhe was so irritated that he never again tried to help either of the Oswalds.[A13-972] Contacts between them and members of the Russian community diminished markedly.[A13-973] Oswald did not care for most of these people and made his feelings apparent.[A13-974] Even the De Mohrenschildts, whom he liked most, saw much less of them.[A13-975] Lydia Dymitruk, another Russian born woman in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, testified that she saw the Oswalds on only one occasion, and did not care to see them again. She drove Marina and June, who had a high fever, to the hospital; Oswald told the hospital that he was unemployed in order to avoid paying for June’s treatment and later left Mrs. Dymitruk without thanking her.[A13-976] Mrs. Ford testified that Marina had told her that she contemplated suicide during this period because Oswald was treating her badly and she had no friends; she felt that she had “no way out.”[A13-977] Marina acknowledged to the Commission that she had had such thoughts.[A13-978]
In an effort to renew family ties, Robert Oswald wrote to Lee and John Pic on November 17, inviting them and their families to Thanksgiving dinner. Lee accepted the invitation. He and Marina traveled to Fort Worth by bus on Thanksgiving Day, and John Pic and Robert met them at the station.[A13-979] Pic had not seen his half-brother for 10 years. He observed, as many others have also attested, that Lee seemed to be a good father and to take an active interest in June.[A13-980] After dinner, Marina phoned Paul Gregory, who later drove the Oswalds to his house for sandwiches and then took them to the bus station for the return trip to Dallas.[A13-981] Thereafter, Robert spoke to his brother once by telephone and received a post card and a letter from him, but he eventually lost contact with Lee and did not see him again until after the assassination.[A13-982]
Despite his disillusionment with Soviet life, Oswald kept up his interest in Russia. He wrote to the Soviet Embassy in Washington for information on how to subscribe to Russian periodicals and for “any periodicals or bulletins which you may put out for the benefit of your citizens living, for a time, in the U.S.A.”[A13-983] He subsequently subscribed to several Russian journals.[A13-984] In December 1962, the Soviet Embassy received a card in Russian, signed “Marina and Lee Oswald,” which conveyed New Year’s greetings and wishes for “health, success and all of the best” to the employees at the Embassy.[A13-985] The Oswalds continued to correspond with acquaintances in Russia.[A13-986]
Soon after his return to this country, Oswald had started to correspond with the Communist Party, U.S.A., and the Socialist Workers Party. He subscribed to the Worker in August 1962.[A13-987] He wrote for additional literature from these organizations, and attempted to join the Socialist Workers Party, which, however, had no branch in Texas.[A13-988] He sent samples of his photographic work to the Socialist Workers Party, the Worker, and the Hall-Davis Defense Committee, and offered to aid them in printing and photographic work in connection with posters; these offers were not accepted.[A13-989]
He continued to read a great deal on a variety of subjects.[A13-990] George Bouhe testified that Oswald’s fare consisted of books by Marx, Lenin, “and similar things.”[A13-991] Marina said that he read books of a historical nature, including H. G. Wells’ two volume “Outline of History,” and biographies of Hitler, Kennedy, and Khrushchev.[A13-992]