Mrs. Oswald. He had to make passage, and have some money. I don't know if it took $1,600. I do not know, sir. But I am saying 5 weeks later he needs money. We haven't gotten to this file yet.
I will quote from a newspaper, the Star Telegram, 1959, his defection, by Mrs. Aline Mosby, who interviewed Lee in Moscow. It says here, "I saw my mother always as a worker, always with less than we could use, he said. He insisted his childhood was happy despite his poverty."
We had a very happy family. He insisted—this is the story in 1959. Lee had a normal childhood.
And now he is criticizing the United States. He says, "Many things bothered him in the United States. Race discrimination, harsh treatment of underdog, Communists and hate." Then on the other letter he is going to Russia to write a book. And there is another story and another story. And all kind of stories. So what are we to believe, gentlemen. Is he throwing us off the track because he is an agent. We are talking about speculation and newspaper papers, and so on. And we know when he came back that he did go to Mrs. Bates, a Fort Worth stenographer, and talked about the Soviet Union. She made it public. And he only had $10. And he did not finish that story. And she said he was very nervous. And he did not say he was an agent. But she got the impression that he was an agent. This has been made public in the Star Telegram—if you do not have that, I do.
Mr. Rankin. Mrs. Oswald, is this the photostatic copy of the letter about his booking passage?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Rankin. You read the original?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes, sir.
Mr. Rankin. And this material on the bottom is just your own writing?
Mrs. Oswald. Yes. This was in this book. That is my writing at the bottom.