Thread Rating:
  • 0 Vote(s) - 0 Average
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
White Russian players in the assassination
#1
I thought it may be interesting to have a thread bringing together persons involved or connected in the JFK assassination who were from or had connections to the White Russian community starting with George de Mohrenschildt


George de Mohrenschildt

[/url]

George de Mohrenschildt ([url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April_17]April 17
(Gregorian calendar), 1911 – March 29, 1977) was a petroleum geologist who befriended Lee Harvey Oswald during the months preceding the assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.

Early life

George de Mohrenschildt was born in Mozyr in Tsarist Russia, near the border of Poland (his birthdate was April 4, old-style Russian Julian calendar). His wealthy father, Sergius Alexander von Mohrenschildt, an anti-Communist, was arrested and put in prison by the Bolsheviks shortly after the Russian Revolution. After being sentenced to life as an exile in Siberia, he managed to escape with his family to Poland during the 1920s, where George graduated from a military academy in 1931. He received the equivalent of a doctor of science of international commerce from the University of Liège in 1938.
When de Mohrenschildt immigrated to the United States in May 1938, British intelligence reportedly notified the U.S. government they suspected he was working for German intelligence and by some accounts he was under FBI surveillance for a time. At first, de Mohrenschildt worked for the Shumaker company in New York City, purportedly under Pierre Fraiss, who had connections with French intelligence and according to de Mohrenschildt (see his Warren Hearing testimony) was engaged in gathering information about people engaged in "pro-German" activities, such as Nazi bidding for U.S. oil leases before the U.S. became involved in the war. In his testimony, de Mohrenschildt makes it clear that his data-collection was anti-Nazi activity, since it was aimed at helping the French, by out-bidding the Germans.
De Mohrenschildt spent the summer of 1938 with his older brother Dimitri on Long Island, New York, where he became acquainted with the Bouvier family, including young Jackie, future wife of John F. Kennedy, and became a close friend of Jackie's aunt Edith Bouvier Beale.
He dabbled in the insurance business from 1939 to 1941, but failed to pass his broker's examination. In 1941, de Mohrenschildt became associated with Film Facts in New York, a production company owned by his cousin Baron Maydell who was said to have pro-Nazi sympathies (de Mohrenschildt flatly denied any Nazi sympathies of his own, since he was helping raise money for the Polish resistance). De Mohrenschildt made a documentary film about resistance fighters in Poland but when the United States entered World War II his application to join the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was rejected.
George's elder brother Dimitri von Mohrenschildt was a staunch anti-Communist and member of the OSS and one of the founders of the CIA's Radio Free Europe and Amcomlib (aka Radio Liberty) stations. His contacts included top officials of the agency. Dimitri died at the age of 100 in 2002.
George received a master's degree in petroleum geology from the University of Texas in 1945.

Dallas, Oswald and Haiti

After the war de Mohrenschildt settled in Dallas, Texas, and took a job with oilman Clint Murchison as a petroleum geologist. He became a U.S. citizen in 1949. Described as sophisticated and articulate, he became a respected member of the Russian emigre community in Dallas, teaching at a local college, working for various oil companies as a geologist and traveling throughout the Americas with his fourth wife, Jeanne, whom he married in 1959.[1]
Lee Harvey Oswald and his Russian wife Marina Oswald were introduced to de Mohrenschildt in the summer of 1962 in Fort Worth, Texas. De Mohrenschildt had heard of the Oswalds from one of the Russian-speaking group of émigrés in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. George and Jeanne befriended them, trying to help them as best they could, along with introducing them into the Russian community. In his Warren Commission testimony in 1964, de Mohrenschildt stated that he believed he had discussed Oswald with J. Walton Moore, of the Dallas office of the CIA, whom de Mohrenschildt had known since 1957. De Mohrenschildt asserted that shortly after meeting Oswald he asked Moore and Ft. Worth attorney Max Clark about Oswald to reassure himself that it was "safe" for the de Mohrenschildts to assist Oswald. According to his testimony, de Mohrenschildt was told by one of the persons he talked to about Oswald, although he said he could not remember who it was, that "the guy seems to be OK." (Moore said in a 1978 interview for the House Select Committee on Assassinations that the allegations that de Mohrenschildt asked Moore's "permission" to contact Oswald were false.)
On April 13, 1963, three days after Oswald's attempt on the life of conservative activist General Edwin Walker at his home in Dallas (for which the police had no suspects),[2] the de Mohrenschildts visited the Oswalds' apartment. George, knowing Oswald's dislike of Walker, joked to Oswald upon entry, "Hey, Lee! How is it possible that you missed?" Lee and Marina looked at each other but said nothing.[3][4] Jeanne de Mohrenschildt later saw a rifle standing against the wall in a room that served as Oswald's study.[5] When she and George asked why Lee owned a rifle, Marina and Lee both replied that it was for target shooting.[6]
In June 1963, de Mohrenschildt moved to Haiti, where he and other investors had set up an industrial development enterprise whose work was to include conducting a geological survey of Haiti to plot out oil and geological resources on the island. After Kennedy was assassinated, he testified before the Warren Commission in 1964. (For this testimony in the hearing record, see [2] and following pages). The de Mohrenschildts left Haiti in 1967 and returned to Dallas.
Later life & death
In 1977 Dutch journalist Willem Oltmans went to Texas and brought de Morenschildt to Holland. After de Mohrenschildt arrived in Holland, Oltmans invited him with some Russian friends. They went to Brussels and had plans to go to Liege,a Belgium city in the french speaking part of Belgium. The family of Oltmans owned a familyhouse not far from Liege on the countryside. They like to stay there. In Brussels de Mohrenschildt suddenly disappeared after he made a small walk before he would go for lunch with Oltmans and his friends. Oltmans waited for him but he didn't come back. Months later the police found the dead body of Mr de Morhenschildt in Florida. Oltmans conclusion is that the CIA or agents connected to the inner circle of the CIA killed de Mohrenschildt because he was ready to tell the real story of his involvement in the assassination of Kennedy to the journalist Willem Oltmans. Lee Havey Oswalt was not the man who killed Kennedy according journalist Willem Oltmans.He was only the mask. The CIA killed the only witness de Mohrenschildt before he could tell the whole story.
For reasons unknown, George and Jeanne de Mohrenschildt quietly obtained a divorce in Dallas, Texas on 3 April 1973, after nearly fourteen years of marriage.[7] It was not reported in the local newspapers, and the couple continued to present themselves as husband and wife.[8]
By the early 1970s, reportedly, de Mohrenschildt's behavior leaned towards the erratic. On September 17, 1976, the CIA requested that the FBI locate de Mohrenschildt, because he had "attempted to get in touch with the CIA Director."[9] De Mohrenschildt had "written a letter to the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency asking for his assistance. It seems that Subject feels he is being harassed as a result of his involvement with the OSWALD case."[10] George Bush wrote back:
Let me say first that I know it must have been difficult for you to seek my help in the situation outlined in your letter. I believe I can appreciate your state of mind in view of your daughter's tragic death a few years ago, and the current poor state of your wife's health. I was extremely sorry to hear of these circumstances. In your situation I can well imagine how the attentions you described in your letter affect both you and your wife. However, my staff has been unable to find any indication of interest in your activities on the part of Federal authorities in recent years. The flurry of interest that attended your testimony before the Warren Commission has long subsided. I can only speculate that you may have become "newsworthy" again in view of the renewed interest in the Kennedy assassination, and thus may be attracting the attention of people in the media. I hope this letter had been of some comfort to you, George, although I realize I am unable to answer your question completely. George Bush, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. [CIA Exec Reg. # 76,51571 9.28.76][11]
On November 9, 1976, Jeanne had him committed to a mental institution in Texas for three months, and listed in a notarized affidavit four previous suicide attempts while he was in the Dallas area. In the affidavit she stated that George suffered from depression, heard voices, saw visions, and believed that the FBI and the Jewish Mafia were persecuting him.
On March 16, 1977, de Mohrenschildt returned to the United States from his trip in Belgium where he suddenly disappeared in Brussels. His daughter talked with him at length and found him to be deeply disturbed about certain matters and had expressed a desire to commit suicide. De Mohrenschildt contacted Kennedy assassination researcher Edward Jay Epstein, told him that he needed money, and accepted $4,000 for an interview to be published in Reader's Digest, during which he claimed that in 1962 a CIA operative in Dallas named Moore asked him to learn what he could about Oswald's activities in the Soviet Union. De Mohrenschildt said that in exchange he received help in an oil transaction he was attempting to negotiate with Haitian dictator Papa Doc Duvalier. When the Haitian government gave de Mohrenschildt the contract in March 1963, he presumed it was payment for assisting the CIA. On March 29, 1977, while on a break from the interview, de Mohrenschildt received a card from Gaeton Fonzi, an investigator for the House Select Committee on Assassinations.

Another backyard photo

Days later, on April 1, 1977, Jeanne de Mohrenschildt gave the House Select Committee on Assassinations a photograph taken of Lee Harvey Oswald, by his wife Marina, standing in his Dallas backyard holding two newspapers and a rifle, and with a pistol on his hip. The existence of this print, while similar to others which had been found among Oswald's effects on November 23, 1963, was previously unknown.
On the back was written To my friend George from Lee Oswald, and the date “5/IV/63” [this is in non-USA convention with day in front and month in Roman numerals, and means 5 April 1963] [12] along with the words “Copyright Geo de M”' and a Russian phrase translated as “'Hunter of fascists, ha-ha-ha!” Handwriting specialists later concluded that the words “To my friend George…” and Oswald's signature were written by Lee Harvey Oswald but could not determine whether the rest was the writing of Lee Oswald, George de Mohrenschildt or Marina Oswald. Some historians have speculated the Russian line was written by Marina, in sarcasm. (George de Mohrenschildt in his memoir translated it as "This is the hunter of fascists, ha, ha, ha!" and also assumed that Marina had written it sarcastically).
George de Mohrenschildt wrote in his manuscript (reference and pages cited above) that he had missed Oswald's photograph in packing for the move to Haiti in May, 1963, and this was why he hadn't mentioned it to the Warren Commission (though he had noted in his manuscript that Oswald had a rifle in April, 1963, because he had seen it in the apartment at Easter and scoffed to Lee that he had missed General Walker, remembering in memory that Lee had blanched at the joke). According to de Mohrenschildt, the photo was not found among his stored papers until his wife found it in 1967. When analyzed by the HSCA in 1977, this photo turned out to be a first generation print of the backyard photo already known to the Warren commission as CE-133A, and which had probably been taken on March 31, 1963.

Memoir

Jeanne de Mohrenschildt also gave the HSCA committee a copy of a manuscript called I Am a Patsy! I Am a Patsy! which George de Mohrenschildt had recently written about his relationship with his "dear, dead friend" Oswald, wherein he said that the Lee Oswald he knew, while capable of violence and petty meanness, would not have been the sort of person to have killed John F. Kennedy. In part this judgment was based on de Mohrenschildt's estimation of Oswald's political views and Kennedy's liberal ideas. The memoir has never been published as a trade book but has been available online since the entire typescript was published as an appendix in the HSCA report [3]. (For a partial re-type see [4]). De Mohrenschildt's testimony to the Warren Commission in early 1964, however, paints a quite different view of Oswald — a man de Mohrenschildt said he considered a "kid" and not a friend. Due to the largely complete conflict in point of view between these two accounts (one given under some duress and the other written ostensibly for money) most historians give neither account of de Mohrenschildt great historical value [5].


Depictions in the Popular media
De Mohrenschildt was played by Willem Oltmans in the 1991 film JFK and by Bill Bolender in the 1993 TV movie Fatal Deception: Mrs. Lee Harvey Oswald.

References

-The film made by Theo van Gogh (he was later killed in Amsterdam by a Muslim fanatic) in 1997 is a long interview with journalist Willem Oltmans. The interview is more then 4 hours on DVD. Name of the film: Theo van Gogh, Willem Oltmans "De Eenmotorige Mug". A film from the Shooting Star Filmcompany Inc, Holland 2004. Oltmans tells in detail the story of his contacts with de Mohrenschildt (and the mother of Lee Havey Oswald, Mrs Marguerite Oswald) till the moments de Mohrenschildt was killed in 1977.
- Willem Oltmans' Book, "Memoires 1963-1963". Publisher Stichting Uitgeverij De Papieren Tijger, Holland, 2000. ISBN 90 6728 111 5.



  1. ^ Warren Commission Hearings, Testimony of Jeanne de Mohrenschildt.
  2. ^ "Police Keep Watch on Walker's Home", Dallas Morning News, April 12, 1963, section 1, p. 11.
  3. ^ Warren Commission testimony of Marina Oswald, 1 H 18.
  4. ^ Warren Commission testimony of George de Mohrenschildt, 9 H 250.
  5. ^ Warren Commission testimony of Jeanne de Mohrenschildt, 9 H 314–316.
  6. ^ Warren Commission testimony of Jeanne de Mohrenschildt, 9 H 314–316. Warren Commission testimony of George de Mohrenschildt, 9 H 249.
  7. ^ Ancestry.com. Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2002 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2005. Original data: Texas Department of State Health Services. Texas Divorce Index, 1968-2002. Texas, USA: Texas Department of State Health Services.
  8. ^ For example, from the death investigation report by Thomas Neighbors of the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office:
    At 2315 hours, on 29 March, 1977, this writer made contact with the victim's wife, MRS. JEANNE deMOHRENSCHILDT, in California … and advised her of her husband's demise; a fact which she had already been made aware of by several newsmen who had telephoned her seeking a story. She stated that she has been married to the victim for the past twenty-one years and noted that over the past several years he has been acting in an "insane manner".
  9. ^ CIA Message Reference Number 915341.
  10. ^ CIA MFR Raymond M. Reardon SAG 9.20.76.
  11. ^ George H. W. Bush recalled, "I first met de Mohrenschildt in the early 1940s. He was an uncle to my Andover roommate." (The roommate, Edward G. Hooker, was actually Dimitri von Mohrenschildt's stepson).
  12. ^ This date was confirmed by de Mohrenschildt in his memoir, see [1], pp. 254-262]


External links

"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
Reply


Messages In This Thread
White Russian players in the assassination - by Magda Hassan - 06-08-2009, 03:13 AM

Possibly Related Threads…
Thread Author Replies Views Last Post
  The Current State Of Internet Assassination Discussion Brian Doyle 0 165 23-08-2024, 07:27 PM
Last Post: Brian Doyle
  JFK Assassination: Sequence of Events ThomasPickering 5 2,488 20-07-2022, 12:58 PM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin
  LeMay and Collins on 11/22/63 - two very important but different players Peter Lemkin 1 2,116 12-12-2021, 07:23 PM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin
  On the Trail of Clay Shaw:The Italian Undercover CIA and Mossad Station and the Assassination of JFK Paz Marverde 4 5,168 28-11-2019, 12:32 PM
Last Post: Paz Marverde
  Weisberg's trash-the-critics book 'Inside the Assassination Industry' Richard Booth 7 5,436 28-09-2019, 12:41 AM
Last Post: Richard Booth
  Mailer's Tales of the JFK Assassination Milo Reech 4 4,356 07-06-2019, 09:47 PM
Last Post: Richard Coleman
  Collins Radio Connection to JFK Assassination - Bill Kelly (revised) Peter Lemkin 15 9,744 20-05-2019, 09:08 PM
Last Post: Scott Kaiser
  John Barbour: Averill Harriman ordered the assassination Lauren Johnson 30 31,122 18-03-2019, 05:01 PM
Last Post: Cliff Varnell
  The Inheritance: Poisoned Fruit of JFK's Assassination Lauren Johnson 1 3,033 09-02-2019, 06:02 PM
Last Post: Paul Rigby
  The Key To a Successful Assassination is Control of Communications..... Peter Lemkin 0 2,442 21-01-2019, 06:30 AM
Last Post: Peter Lemkin

Forum Jump:


Users browsing this thread: 1 Guest(s)