From LHO's 201 file: "Indications of Intelligence Involvement by Marina Oswald"

[Tom Graves]

Indications of Intelligence Involvement by Marina Oswald


1. Mystery of fatherless patronymic. Could be deliberate to obscure a cover-damaging father.

2. Apparently-unexceptional reason for requesting specialized training, and apparent ease with which request granted.

3. Habitual eating out and avoidance of stepfather’s family circle. Would one-third of a death pension support that plus her other expenses such as clothes?

4. Refusal of first job assignment, with no apparent ill-effects.

5. Two-month vacation. What did she live on, even if pension continued? It would be expected that the pension would cease once she was through school and able to support herself.

6.. Discrepancy between Marina’s voluntary move to Minsk and easily-found job there AND her later request to live in Leningrad if allowed to return to the USSR because there are more pharmacies there and it is easier to find work there. It may be suspicious that she found a job as a pharmacist immediately in Minsk.

7. Uncle’s (supposedly innocuous) MVD status and obvious importance as shown by VIP apartment, vacation in Gagra, etc.

8. Questionable aspects of her move to Minsk in 1959: where did she get travel funds? What did she expect to do there, since job prospects were poorer and she did not know in advance that she could stay and live with the Prusakovas? At the time she went there, did she intend to bury herself in Minsk, when she was used to and apparently preferred the big city (Leningrad)?

9. Casual attitude about ignoring Komsomol; no apparent ill effects.

10. Refusal to identify certain individuals in her story, while identifying and giving information on others. Cover story incomplete or forgotten?

11. Several vacations in Minsk while she was still living in Leningrad. Finances? Time off? Why?

12. Complete uncheckableness of her story.

13. Her easy circumvention of hospital regulations merely because she wore a white uniform, especially since visiting Oswald would have drawn special attention because of his being American.

14. Her line of questioning about his motivation, citizenship, plans, etc., when he was in the hospital in Minsk. Knowing that their conversation might be overheard (even if she was unaware of bugging), she would probably have hesitated to put him through this catechism just out of curiosity or in line with a growing romantic interest in him.

15. Discrepancies in various statements attributed to her (such as father unknown OR died when she was two, childhood “gruesome” or just considered unhappy because of her unmanageableness after going to live with her mother and stepfather, etc). Could all of these discrepancies be due to garbling inherent in many interviews (FBI, press, Secret Service)?

16. Prusakova's approval and encouragement of her relationship with Oswald, when he was not only a turncoat American but also a known misfit whom “everybody hated.”

17. Marina's statement that she had not been interviewed by any officials in connection with her marriage and that the only documentation necessary was registration of intent and then certification ten days later. Even Oswald said in the diary that he had to get permission to marry a foreigner.

18. Failure to mention many apparent relatives whom we have managed (or been allowed?) to ferret out from the letters and documents available.

19. Possible open code in letters to her from USSR: the cemetery go-round, coincidence of two correspondents suddenly getting pet dogs and writing her enthusiastically about them (one consuming summer delicacies – hard to get even in summer – in winter), etc.

20. Her quick trip to Moscow in July 1961. How did she get time off? Travel permit? What did she tell friends and relatives, since Oswald was apparently keeping the whole thing quiet (or thought he was)? If she just took off and burned her bridges, it looks as though she might have had reason to believe that they WOULD get out of the USSR and therefore have no consequences to suffer.

21. Her surprisingly quick decision to marry an ill-tempered misfit foreigner.

22. Possibly-strange fact that the Prusakovas were the only relatives to write to her in the US.

23. Whereabouts while briefly separated from Oswald in fall 1962.

24. Possibility that that she was not at Aunt Polina’s for a month in fall 1961, since we have only heard word that she was -- or even that Aunt Polina exists: Oswald, and Aunt Valya are our only say-so.

25. Is it significant that it was Marina who was called to the Minsk passport office 25 December 61 and was told that the visas were granted, when it was Lee who had been dealing with them?

26. Any conclusion to be drawn from the fact that she told the Soviet Embassy in Washington that she would have no one to go to in the USSR because her family and friends had not wanted her to leave, although their letters to her had indicated excitement, curiosity, encouragement parentheses in general and about returning to USSR (a request from one friend to come to Minsk if they returned and were allowed to, etc.?

26 Moroccan student episode, early 1961. If her story is true, it is impossible that she was the girl in this episode, since her residence in Minsk, daily visits to Lee during his hospital stay, etc., would preclude her being in Moscow and dating the Moroccan four-times-a-week till late May. But we have only her words for her story up till the meeting with Lee and only their stories for the subsequent period, and one one way or another, the Moroccan could have been slightly off on his dates, too, and/or could have confused the exact time of his transfer of interest from Marina to Loussa.

27. On 28 July 1961, [KGB defector Pyotr] Deryabin points out, her work booklet shows that she was transferred (apparently promoted) to assistant druggist. This seems very strange, in light of the facts 1) she had just made her visit to the American Embassy and was being subjected to heckling at her place of work (to the extent, Oswald said, that she was hospitalized five days for nervous exhaustion), and 2) plans to leave the USSR, in addition to casting suspicion on her, would remove her from the job shortly.

28. Irregularities in her trade union booklet: 1) no dues from 1956 to 1959, hence she must have had another booklet; Why? How? Where? 2) why no year given in registration and deregistration entries regarding pharmacy school?

29. Length of validity of her passport. Why was it valid from 11 January 62 to 11 January 64, when she was expected to use it just once, before the end of 1962, to immigrate to the US? Even if she asked for long validity with the idea of returning for a visit (but where would she get the money, being married to a man who even had to borrow passage money home?), would the Soviets normally accede to such a request?

[Gerry Down]

Indications of intelligence Involvement by Marina Oswald


1. Mystery of fatherless patronymic. Could be deliberate to obscure a cover-damaging father.

2. Apparently-unexceptional reason for requesting specialized training, and apparent ease with which request granted.

3. Habitual eating out and avoidance of stepfather’s family circle. Would one-third of a death pension support that plus her other expenses such as clothes?

4. Refusal of first job assignment, with no apparent ill-effects.

5. Two-month vacation. What did she live on, even if pension continued? It would be expected that the pension would cease once she was through school and able to support herself.

6.. Discrepancy between Marina’s voluntary move to Minsk and easily-found job there AND her later request to live in Leningrad if allowed to return to the USSR because there are more pharmacies there and it is easier to find work there. It may be suspicious that she found a job as a pharmacist immediately in Minsk.

7. Uncle’s (supposedly innocuous) MVD status and obvious importance as shown by VIP apartment, vacation in Gagra, etc.

8. Questionable aspects of her move to Minsk in 1959: where did she get travel funds? What did she expect to do there, since job prospects were poorer and she did not know in advance that she could stay and live with the Prusakovas? At the time she went there, did she intend to bury herself in Minsk, when she was used to and apparently preferred the big city (Leningrad)?

9. Casual attitude about ignoring Komsomol; no apparent ill effects.

10. Refusal to identify certain individuals in her story, while identifying and giving information on others. Cover story incomplete or forgotten?

11. Several vacations in Minsk while she was still living in Leningrad. Finances? Time off? Why?

12. Complete uncheckableness of her story.
13. Her easy circumvention of hospital regulations merely because she wore a white uniform, especially since visiting Oswald would have drawn special attention because of his being American.

14. Her line of questioning about his motivation, citizenship, plans, etc., when he was in the hospital in Minsk. Knowing that their conversation might be overheard (even if she was unaware of bugging), she would probably have hesitated to put him through this catechism just out of curiosity or in line with a growing romantic interest in him.

15. Discrepancies in various statements attributed to her (such as father unknown OR died when she was two, childhood “gruesome” or just considered unhappy because of her unmanageableness after going to live with her mother and stepfather, etc). Could all of these discrepancies be due to garbling inherent in many interviews (FBI, press, Secret Service)?

16. Prusakova's approval and encouragement of her relationship with Oswald, when he was not only a turncoat American but also a known misfit whom “everybody hated.”

17. Marina's statement that she had not been interviewed by any officials in connection with her marriage and that the only documentation necessary was registration of intent and then certification ten days later. Even Oswald said in the diary that he had to get permission to marry a foreigner.

18. Failure to mention many apparent relatives whom we have managed (or been allowed?) to ferret out from the letters and documents available.

19. Possible open code in letters to her from USSR: the cemetery go-round, coincidence of two correspondents suddenly getting pet dogs and writing her enthusiastically about them (one consuming summer delicacies – hard to get even in summer – in winter), etc.

20. Her quick trip to Moscow in July 1961. How did she get time off? Travel permit? What did she tell friends and relatives, since Oswald was apparently keeping the whole thing quiet (or thought he was)? If she just took off and burned her bridges, it looks as though she might have had reason to believe that they WOULD get out of the USSR and therefore have no consequences to suffer.

21. Her surprisingly quick decision to marry an ill-tempered misfit foreigner.

22. Possibly-strange fact that the Prusakovas were the only relatives to write to her in the US.

23. Whereabouts while briefly separated from Oswald in fall 1962.

24. Possibility that that she was not at Aunt Polina’s for a month in fall 1961, since we have only heard word that she was -- or even that Aunt Polina exists: Oswald, and Aunt Valya are our only say-so.

25. Is it significant that it was Marina who was called to the Minsk passport office 25 December 61 and was told that the visas were granted, when it was Lee who had been dealing with them?

26. Any conclusion to be drawn from the fact that she told the Soviet Embassy in Washington that she would have no one to go to in the USSR because her family and friends had not wanted her to leave, although their letters to her had indicated excitement, curiosity, encouragement parentheses in general and about returning to USSR (a request from one friend to come to Minsk if they returned and were allowed to, etc.?

26 Moroccan student episode, early 1961. If her story is true, it is impossible that she was the girl in this episode, since her residence in Minsk, daily visits to Lee during his hospital stay, etc., would preclude her being in Moscow and dating the Moroccan four-times-a-week till late May. But we have only her words for her story up till the meeting with Lee and only their stories for the subsequent period, and one one way or another, the Moroccan could have been slightly off on his dates, too, and/or could have confused the exact time of his transfer of interest from Marina to Loussa.

27. On 28 July 1961, [KGB defector Pyotr] Deryabin points out, her work booklet shows that she was transferred (apparently promoted) to assistant druggist. This seems very strange, in light of the facts 1) she had just made her visit to the American Embassy and was being subjected to heckling at her place of work (to the extent, Oswald said, that she was hospitalized five days for nervous exhaustion), and 2) plans to leave the USSR, in addition to casting suspicion on her, would remove her from the job shortly.

28. Irregularities in her trade union booklet: 1) no dues from 1956 to 1959, hence she must have had another booklet; Why? How? Where? 2) why no year given in registration and deregistration entries regarding pharmacy school?

29. Length of validity of her passport. Why was it valid from 11 January 62 to 11 January 64, when she was expected to use it just once, before the end of 1962, to immigrate to the US? Even if she asked for long validity with the idea of returning for a visit (but where would she get the money, being married to a man who even had to borrow passage money home?), would the Soviets normally accede to such a request?

Are these 29 points taken from some document inside LHOs 201 file? If so, do you have a link to the original document?

[Tom Graves]

Are these 29 points taken from some document inside LHOs 201 file? If so, do you have a link to the original document?

It's an undated CIA document from Oswald's CIA file, Volume 1, Folder 1.

I honestly forget now how I stumbled upon it.

I think I googled "prusakova" and "swallow" and "algerian" or some-such thing because I remembered reading years ago an allegation that she had been a KGB prostitute in Leningrad before she met Lee, and that one of her "assignments" was a guy from "Algeria" or "Albania" or some-such country.

Which is interesting, given what #26 says about a Moroccan boyfriend she had.

EDIT:

I couldn't copy-and-paste the doc to the Forum, so I printed it out, literally read it into Word, corrected typos, added a comment or two in brackets, and copied and pasted it here.

It's from an 82-page AARC PDF document that also has the name of the Mary Ferrell Foundation on the "cover sheet."

Title: Oswald 201 File, Vol 1, Folder 1
Author: n/a
Pages: 82
Agency: n/a
RIF#: n/a
Subjects: n/a
Source: AARC

[Benjamin Cole]

There was a KGB'er in Minsk who said Marina was KGB, but she lapsed when she went to the USA.

Certainly her history, including some involvement with another US defector, suggests she was a KGB asset.

What Marina did stateside is an open question. Did she encourage LHO in his cockeyed dreams?

[Tom Graves]

Did Marina encourage LHO in his cockeyed dreams?

I don't know, but it is interesting to note that Ruth Paine was quite the Russophile, that her estranged husband's father was a Trotskyist, and that George DeMohrenschildt was, according to CIA Counterintelligence analyst Clare Edward Petty, very probably a long-term KGB "illegal."

For more on that, look up GdM or Petty in Richard Russell's The Man Who Knew Too Much.

What do YOU think?

[Gerry Down]

It's an undated CIA document from Oswald's CIA file, Volume 1, Folder 1.

I honestly forget now how I stumbled upon it.

I think I googled "prusakova" and "swallow" and "algerian" or some-such thing because I remembered reading years ago an allegation that she had been a KGB prostitute in Leningrad before she met Lee, and that one of her "assignments" was a guy from "Algeria" or "Albania" or some-such country.

Which is interesting, given what #26 says about a Moroccan boyfriend she had.

EDIT:

I couldn't copy-and-paste the doc to the Forum, so I printed it out, literally read it into Word, corrected typos, added a comment or two in brackets, and copied and pasted it here.

It's from an 82-page AARC PDF document that also has the name of the Mary Ferrell Foundation on the "cover sheet."

Title: Oswald 201 File, Vol 1, Folder 1
Author: n/a
Pages: 82
Agency: n/a
RIF#: n/a
Subjects: n/a
Source: AARC

Thanks. Its certainly an intriguing document.

[Benjamin Cole]

In my post of LHO as possible G2 KGB asset I mentioned Russell's book.

I may add on how the Ambassador to MX and a guy who worked in State both though Cubans were running LHO, and their views were pretty much snuffed out back in the 1964.

That is what is often forgotten---the WC LN narrative snuffed out leads domestic...and foreign.