21-08-2013, 01:08 PM
Hi. My response to Magda's question was moved to this new thread from the Harvey and Lee thread, and so I wanted to include John's original note here, so readers could see what started this. Also, there is a question about the spelling: Ziger vs Zeiger. It certainly seems to appear both ways, but a Google search of Warren Commission Ziger seem to produce far more, and more relevant results,than Warren Commission Zeiger.
Anyway, for those who missed it in the other thread, here is John's original note:
John asked me to post the following to the group:
======================== QUOTE ON ===========================
I interviewed Ana Evalina Ziger in Buenes Aires, Argentina over 3 days in 1998 (she spoke Spanish and Russian-no English). Her sister, Elenora, was then living in Florence, Italy and her mother was in the hospital. Her father died years earlier. We first met at a restaurant and spoke for hours over coffee and tea. I asked Ana if I could use a tape recorder for the interview and she politely said, "no". After a couple of hours of asking questions about Oswald, I was having trouble thinking of more questions to ask. I asked Ana how well she and her sister spoke Russian (perfectly). I then asked "how well did Oswald speak Russian?" She looked at me with a surprised/curious/questionable face and said, "He didn't." I was momentarily "stunned" by her answer and said nothing.
I read story after story, for many years, wherein Marina said that Oswald spoke near-perfect Russian with a Baltic accent. I was confused when Ana said that Oswald did not speak Russian, and for a moment didn't know what to say. I then asked, "He didn't speak Russian to say hello, good-bye, thank you, nothing?" Ana replied (word for word), "My father was his boss at the factory and always interpreted for him. I never heard him speak a word of Russian." We left the restaurant and returned to the hotel, where I could not sleep. Someone was lying, but was it Ana or Marina?? I thought about this for hours, and finally concluded that Ana would have no reason to lie. It occurred to me that Oswald had been sent to Russia precisely because of his ability to speak Russian. The last thing he would want to do, while in Russia, would be to let anyone know that he understood or spoke Russian. Therefore, Marina was lying but why?
Marina had no choice. She met Oswald at a dance and he walked her home. During the next two weeks Oswald was in the hospital, where Marina visited him each day. When Oswald got out of the hospital (without dating and apparently with no physical contact) he and Marina immediately applied for a marriage license. During these two weeks, the only language they spoke was English (same language Marina spoke when she met the 1st "defector", Robert Webster, in Moscow). Why would Oswald dare speak a word of Russian while in Russia?
Marina arrived in the USA and didn't let anyone know that she spoke English (except Oswald). If she spoke English the CIA/FBI would immediately suspect her of being KGB (which, according to CIA analysts, she was). Anyway, my conclusion was that both Oswald and Marina both spoke Russian and English and both were cold-war intelligence operatives.
After several hours of conversation at the restaurant Ana Ziger apparently felt comfortable with us (myself and interpreter) and invited us to her home, where she served dinner. She surprised me by showing a few black and white photos of Oswald that she had "smuggled" out of Russia. We met for the last time at her home on the third day and she served "matte," a local drink that tasted like cinnamon. After returning to the USA I wrote a couple of letters to Ana but never again spoke with her.
Today Ana Ziger would be 74 years old, and most likely retired.
The only address I have for Ana Evalina Ziger, as of 1998, is the following:
Ana Evalina Ziger
Av. 4595 Piso #3 ro. Dept A
codigo 1195
Buenes Aires, Republica Argentina
South America
011 541 865 5931 (home) I spoke with Ana, thru an interpreter, at this phone number in 1998.
Ana worked at the Colon Theater (large opera house) in 1998:
Teatro Colon (Colon Theater)
Buenes Aires, Republica Argentina
011541 865 5931
http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/en/
If anyone should want to contact and talk with Ana, please remember that she speaks only Spanish and Russian. Good Luck.
===================== QUOTE OFF =====================
Jim
Anyway, for those who missed it in the other thread, here is John's original note:
John asked me to post the following to the group:
======================== QUOTE ON ===========================
I interviewed Ana Evalina Ziger in Buenes Aires, Argentina over 3 days in 1998 (she spoke Spanish and Russian-no English). Her sister, Elenora, was then living in Florence, Italy and her mother was in the hospital. Her father died years earlier. We first met at a restaurant and spoke for hours over coffee and tea. I asked Ana if I could use a tape recorder for the interview and she politely said, "no". After a couple of hours of asking questions about Oswald, I was having trouble thinking of more questions to ask. I asked Ana how well she and her sister spoke Russian (perfectly). I then asked "how well did Oswald speak Russian?" She looked at me with a surprised/curious/questionable face and said, "He didn't." I was momentarily "stunned" by her answer and said nothing.
I read story after story, for many years, wherein Marina said that Oswald spoke near-perfect Russian with a Baltic accent. I was confused when Ana said that Oswald did not speak Russian, and for a moment didn't know what to say. I then asked, "He didn't speak Russian to say hello, good-bye, thank you, nothing?" Ana replied (word for word), "My father was his boss at the factory and always interpreted for him. I never heard him speak a word of Russian." We left the restaurant and returned to the hotel, where I could not sleep. Someone was lying, but was it Ana or Marina?? I thought about this for hours, and finally concluded that Ana would have no reason to lie. It occurred to me that Oswald had been sent to Russia precisely because of his ability to speak Russian. The last thing he would want to do, while in Russia, would be to let anyone know that he understood or spoke Russian. Therefore, Marina was lying but why?
Marina had no choice. She met Oswald at a dance and he walked her home. During the next two weeks Oswald was in the hospital, where Marina visited him each day. When Oswald got out of the hospital (without dating and apparently with no physical contact) he and Marina immediately applied for a marriage license. During these two weeks, the only language they spoke was English (same language Marina spoke when she met the 1st "defector", Robert Webster, in Moscow). Why would Oswald dare speak a word of Russian while in Russia?
Marina arrived in the USA and didn't let anyone know that she spoke English (except Oswald). If she spoke English the CIA/FBI would immediately suspect her of being KGB (which, according to CIA analysts, she was). Anyway, my conclusion was that both Oswald and Marina both spoke Russian and English and both were cold-war intelligence operatives.
After several hours of conversation at the restaurant Ana Ziger apparently felt comfortable with us (myself and interpreter) and invited us to her home, where she served dinner. She surprised me by showing a few black and white photos of Oswald that she had "smuggled" out of Russia. We met for the last time at her home on the third day and she served "matte," a local drink that tasted like cinnamon. After returning to the USA I wrote a couple of letters to Ana but never again spoke with her.
Today Ana Ziger would be 74 years old, and most likely retired.
The only address I have for Ana Evalina Ziger, as of 1998, is the following:
Ana Evalina Ziger
Av. 4595 Piso #3 ro. Dept A
codigo 1195
Buenes Aires, Republica Argentina
South America
011 541 865 5931 (home) I spoke with Ana, thru an interpreter, at this phone number in 1998.
Ana worked at the Colon Theater (large opera house) in 1998:
Teatro Colon (Colon Theater)
Buenes Aires, Republica Argentina
011541 865 5931
http://www.teatrocolon.org.ar/en/
If anyone should want to contact and talk with Ana, please remember that she speaks only Spanish and Russian. Good Luck.
===================== QUOTE OFF =====================
Jim