Mr. Liebeler. What is the state of your recollection that Oswald told you he had received training in photography when he was in Russia?
Mr. Ballen. Pretty vague, but I had the feeling that he said he may have worked in some capacity, either in a house organ—or a newspaper in the U.S.S.R., and that he did have some training and knew how to use commercial camera equipment and general reproduction equipment.
Mr. Liebeler. Did you take any steps to help Oswald get a job as a result of his interview with you?
Mr. Ballen. No. During the course of my meeting with him, I started out being attracted somewhat toward him, and I started out having a fairly good impression of the individual, and I also started out feeling very sorry for the chap, knowing some hard times that he had been through, and of wanting to help him. But as this meeting wore on, I just gradually came to the feeling that he was too much of a rugged individualist for me, and that he was too much of a hardheaded individual, and that I probably would ultimately regret having him down at my organization. I was, during the course of this meeting, trying to analyze his training to find a place for him at Electrical Log Services, where we have a large camera and commercial reproduction equipment, but the more I talked to him, while I had a certain area of admiration for him, it still remained that I gradually came to the conclusion, and did not relay this to him in any way, that he was too much of a rugged individualist and probably wouldn't fit in with the team we had down there. So I never did really try to help Oswald. I think I told George De Mohrenschildt I would search around and see what I could do.
Mr. Liebeler. But in point of fact, you never took any steps after this to try to help him find a job?
Mr. Ballen. My memory was a bit hazy in one respect. I knew I reached my conclusion. I didn't know whether I had called up our general manager down at the Log Services to see what openings, if any, could be generated, but in checking with the individual, he does not have any memory of my calling him in that regard.
Mr. Liebeler. The other individual being the man in charge of operations at Log Services?
Mr. Ballen. That's correct.
Mr. Liebeler. What did Oswald say to you that led you to this conclusion that you have just expressed?
Let me ask you a broader question. Let me ask you, if you will now, to your best recollection, give the substance of the conversation that you and Oswald had that day?