Steven Hager: The Two Oswalds

[Ray Mitcham]

Karl Kinaski.

 

"Titovets: Pavel Golovachev did not speak English at all. Once he confided in me that he wished he did and he was sorry he did not speak the language."

 

Warren Commission.

Mrs. PORTER. Lee did not have very many friends. I do recall one young man working with him. His name was Pavel Golovachev, and he was around our house quite a lot and they spoke English. So for this young gentleman it was a good practice. Mrs. PORTER. Lee did not have very many friends. I do recall one young man working with him. His name was Pavel Golovachev, and he was around our house quite a lot and they spoke English. So for this young gentleman it was a good practice. 

 

Mr. McDONALD. Was this individual Pavel Golovachev?

Mrs. PORTER. Yes.

Mr. McDONALD. Would you consider him Lee's closest friend?

Mrs. PORTER. I think so. 

 

 

 

Edited December 31, 2016 by Ray Mitcham

[Jim Hargrove]

4 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Hi, Karl….

Haven’t heard from you since the last time you visited here, as always pronouncing the Two Oswalds were dead and buried.  Funny how you have to keep doing that so often. Oh well, its good to have a purpose in life, eh?

This time around, you declare that since Prof. Ernst Titovets said that “Oswald” spoke Russian while in the USSR, and Anita (Ana) Ziger said he didn’t, this proves beyond a doubt there was only one Oswald.  Am I stating your theory correctly?

Bear in mind that it is Ms. Ziger, not John Armstrong, who said “Oswald” only spoke English while with her in the USSR.  

Ana Ziger and her family had a clear relationship with “Oswald,” which is mentioned at least five times in just the Warren Commission Report.  Her father, who spoke English, worked closely with “Oswald” at the Minsk Radio plant.

Here’s p. 271 from the WCR showing “Oswald” standing next to Ms. Ziger’s friend Alfred.

 

Here’s a photo of “Oswald” and Ms. Ziger together:

 

Ms. Ziger clearly spent time with “Oswald” in the USSR, and her views can hardly be dismissed out of hand.  By the 1990s she was living in Buenos Aires, and in 1998 John Armstrong and a friend traveled there to meet with her.  During several lengthy interviews, Ana declared that Oswald didn’t speak any Russian and seemed unwilling to learn the language.

Which leads us to the conflicting views of Prof. Titovets.  He certainly MAY have known “Oswald” in the Soviet Union, though the evidence is not as clear.  The highly suspect diary of “Oswald” refers  to an “Eraich Titov” once and “Erich” (first name only) two more times.

The Warren Commission Report does not refer to “Titovets” at all, but does mention “Erik Titovyets” twice, both apparently references to the “historic diary.” 

If memory serves, the private Intourist guide Rima Sherikova “Oswald” hired in Moscow indicated he did not seem to speak a word of Russian.  Moscow doctors treating the wrist wound from his so-called suicide attempt also wrote that Oswald indicated he did not speak Russian but seemed to understand some of the things said about him in Russian.

Since you obviously are interested in trying to debunk the two Oswalds above any other Kennedy research, Karl, if I were you I’d rely on the HSCA volume, 13 maybe, that is devoted to little other than attempting to debunk the two Oswald claim.  That would probably work better for you than your latest lame attempt, at least among the government loyalists.  Just a helpful suggestion….

Visit the Harvey and Lee Website at HarveyandLee.net

I meant to add one more thing....

Millicent Cranor has written a fascinating article on Titovets, which can be read here.

John Armstrong writes that when "Oswald" met Titovets, Titovets was an English-speaking medical student.  "Oswald" sought out English-speaking Russians, and received mail--in English--from at least one of them (maybe more, I can't remember) when he returned to the United States.

[W. Tracy Parnell]

Karl Kinaski is quite correct when he states that the article by John Delane Williams debunks Armstrong’s silly assertion that Oswald (Harvey per Armstrong) never spoke a word of Russian in the Soviet Union since he didn’t know who would be reporting what he said to the KGB. Armstrong’s assertion is based on his interview with Ana Evelina Ziger thirty-eight years after she had met Oswald (many of Armstrong’s “revelations” come from witnesses years and years after the fact). The Williams article lays out a compelling case for Oswald speaking Russian. Briefly summarizing, Titovets says he spoke Russian. Marina says he spoke Russian. Ella Germann spoke no English and this is confirmed by the fact that they dub in English in the documentaries she has appeared in that I have seen (can’t remember the titles right now). So, it seems Germann carried on all of her conversations during her relationship with Oswald in Russian. Vladimir Zhidovich, who worked at the radio plant factory in Minsk with Oswald says he spoke Russian. Dr. Alexander Mastykin, a medical student who knew Oswald says he spoke Russian. Oswald had a Russian tutor-does Armstrong think he never spoke Russian then either? And so on. In fact, in a 1995 interview Ana Ziger herself says Oswald spoke Russian albeit poorly (more on that coming up).

However, I am more interested in talking about Jim Hargrove’s somewhat puzzling comments in this thread concerning Titovets. Hargrove is, of course, still promoting the long-debunked John Armstrong double Oswald theory and misrepresenting the evidence in doing so. Hargrove says that the record is clear that Ana Ziger knew Oswald and on that point he is correct. But he tries to boost Ana Ziger’s credibility on the issue of Oswald speaking no Russian by telling us that the Warren Report (of all sources for him to rely on) mentions the Zigers five times. However, he seems to doubt that Ernst Titovets knew Oswald saying only that he “may” have, and that Titovets is only mentioned in the WR in reference to Oswald’s “suspect” historic diary. But a quick search on Mary Ferrell’s site for “Titovets” turns up 150 references (some may be duplicates) to original documents which is quite a few for someone that only “may” have known Oswald. Oddly, Armstrong himself seems to believe Titovets knew Oswald, writing on page 289 of his book, “An English-speaking medical student, Erich (Ernst) Titovets, first met Oswald at the Hotel Minsk [actually it was at the Zigers] and later was a regular visitor to his apartment.” Titovets certainly knew the one and only Lee Harvey Oswald and it is clear from the evidentiary record that he is no Judith Vary Baker. The facts are these:

The CIA ran a name check on Titovets in 1964, so they certainly thought he knew Oswald. The name Ernst Titovets (probably written by Titovets himself) appears in Oswald’s address book on page 69. Titovets corresponded with both Oswald and Marina after they returned to the US which would be odd if he didn’t know them. Finally, Titovets made a tape recording of Oswald in December, 1961 to study his accent. The tape, in which Oswald famously pretended to be a murderer, was featured in the Frontline program “Who Was Lee Harvey Oswald.” To believe Titovets didn’t know Oswald you would have to add this tape to the long list of evidence that was somehow faked. But Armstrong and Hargrove would probably be ok with that since they apparently believe that Titovets is either a CIA or KGB plant, although to my knowledge they have not incorporated specific information about this concept into the Harvey & Lee theory but perhaps that is in the works. Of course, a foundational element of the Harvey & Lee theory is that anything that doesn’t fit the theory is faked or somehow controlled by the CIA or FBI. In fact, look for Hargrove to respond to me here by saying that very thing because that is all they can do.

In the case of Ana Ziger’s statement about Oswald speaking no Russian, Armstrong/Hargrove do what they always do-ignore the weight of the evidence from other sources and attach major significance to an incongruous witness statement (think Palmer McBride, the basis for the whole Armstrong theory). In this instance in fact, they even ignore contradictory statements from Ana Ziger who in a 1995 article published in Argentina stated “Nobody could say anything [about obvious lies by Oswald] because he spoke Russian poorly. Dad would translate and we didn’t know him.” So, he spoke Russian poorly, but he did speak it per Ana Ziger. A second quote from the article, this time by Eleonora Ziger, again alludes to Oswald speaking Russian poorly. “… Alik could not explain it [how Marina should behave in the US] to her in Russian, so Marina would ask me.”

If you ignore side detours, the record on Oswald’s knowledge of Russian is clear enough. He probably made the decision to defect after his experience in the brig and his effort to learn the Russian language begins about the same time as his assignment to El Toro/Santa Ana in December, 1958. There, he took a proficiency test (which he failed) and other Marines were aware that he was learning the language. But by the time he arrived in the Soviet Union he still had only a rudimentary ability in the language. And that ability was gradually improving when he met the Zigers in 1960. But according to Titovets, who met Oswald in September of that same year, he spoke “adequate” Russian but was still sometimes “tongue tied” during conversation.  So, Alexander Ziger, who spoke English, simply translated for Oswald as a matter of convenience as the Ziger sisters confirm in the Argentine article.

In March, 1961, Oswald met Marina and by then he could obviously speak Russian well enough to start a relationship with her since there is no documented evidence (I am aware of Dick Russell’s undocumented assertions which I don’t find convincing) that Marina spoke a word of English in Russia and only spoke a few words by the time of the assassination. So, there is a logical evolution of his ability if you disregard the occasional contrary witness and consider the weight of the evidence. Oswald’s ability with Russian is a subject that I would like to write about in detail someday and I think a compelling case can be made that it was very much evolutionary and non-suspicious. However, I will agree with Armstrong on one point. Oswald gradually became aware that he was being watched by the KGB and there certainly are examples in the record where he pretended to not understand Russian to avoid having conversations with individuals who might report to the authorities (such as when he was in Botkin hospital). But not to the point, as Armstrong maintains, of not speaking Russian at all. To sum up, Hargrove is caught trying to diminish a witness (Titovets) who is openly critical of this aspect of the Armstrong theory and bolster another who has made statements contradictory with the weight of the evidence and even her own previous assertions.

 

[Jim Hargrove]

Hi, W. Tracy; I haven’t heard from you lately!

It’s always interesting to  hear from people whose total interest in the Kennedy Assassination seems limited to attempts to debunk John Armstrong’s monumental work entitled Harvey and Lee.  These critics clearly feel compelled to come around occasionally and again and again declare that their work debunking the Two Oswalds is complete!  

W. Tracy Parnell and Karl Kinaski are perfect examples of the type of researchers who seem dedicated to saving planet Earth from the Harvey and Lee Menace®, and NOT MUCH ELSE regarding the Kennedy Assassination!  And today’s savior for the “We only care about debunking Harvey and Lee” crowd is Prof. Ernst Titovets, who came to America to proclaim, in part, that Harvey Oswald did indeed speak Russian while in the USSR!

Remarkably, Mr. Titovets brought audio recordings of “Oswald” with him and, fortunately, he made them available on YouTube for all of us to hear.  Let’s listen to a tape allegedly made by three men: “Oswald,” Titovets, and, although it’s a little hard to hear, I think the third person is identified as Pavel Golovachev (the son of a famous Soviet Air Force General).

Here is the YouTube presentation a recent correspondent was kind enough to send me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7F2w-9z42E

Isn’t it fascinating that in these several audio excerpts, Titovets and Oswald always speak in English. No Russian whatsoever!  It sort of makes my point—and supports Anita Ziger’s recollection that Oswald only spoke English, at least around her in Russia. It’s also pretty clear that in Minsk Oswald associated with English-speaking Russians, who I'll bet were relatively rare in the area!  If Oswald spoke Russian publicly in the USSR, where are the examples?

Anyway, W. Tracy, hope you have a Happy New Year and continue your important work saving America and the world from the scourge of Harvey and Lee!  Despite your continuous declarations to the contrary, it’s an increasingly daunting task!  I understand its importance, though.

Believing that Harvey Oswald understood Russian while in the USSR but pretended he didn’t might make make some people think he was… (gulp)…

… A Spy!

And we can’t have that kind of thinking, right?

PS.  As the fellow who sent me the YouTube link above noted, at one point in the audio recording Oswald lamely attempts a Southern drawl.  It’s hilarious!  And yet, if Harvey Oswald had really grown up with Marguerite, John, and Robert he should have had a natural southern accent. (Robert Oswald still speaks with a heavy drawl.)  Priscilla Johnson claimed the “Oswald” she interviewed had a heavy Southern accent.

C’mon, W. Tracy, let’s hear those recordings of Oswald speaking Russian in the USSR!

[W. Tracy Parnell]

3 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Hi, W. Tracy; I haven’t heard from you lately!

It’s always interesting to  hear from people whose total interest in the Kennedy Assassination seems limited to attempts to debunk John Armstrong’s monumental work entitled Harvey and Lee.  These critics clearly feel compelled to come around occasionally and again and again declare that their work debunking the Two Oswalds is complete!  

W. Tracy Parnell and Karl Kinaski are perfect examples of the type of researchers who seem dedicated to saving planet Earth from the Harvey and Lee Menace®, and NOT MUCH ELSE regarding the Kennedy Assassination!  And today’s savior for the “We only care about debunking Harvey and Lee” crowd is Prof. Ernst Titovets, who came to America to proclaim, in part, that Harvey Oswald did indeed speak Russian while in the USSR!

Remarkably, Mr. Titovets brought audio recordings of “Oswald” with him and, fortunately, he made them available on YouTube for all of us to hear.  Let’s listen to a tape allegedly made by three men: “Oswald,” Titovets, and, although it’s a little hard to hear, I think the third person is identified as Pavel Golovachev (the son of a famous Soviet Air Force General).

Here is the YouTube presentation a recent correspondent was kind enough to send me:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7F2w-9z42E

Isn’t it fascinating that in these several audio excerpts, Titovets and Oswald always speak in English. No Russian whatsoever!  It sort of makes my point—and supports Anita Ziger’s recollection that Oswald only spoke English, at least around her in Russia. It’s also pretty clear that in Minsk Oswald associated with English-speaking Russians, who I'll bet were relatively rare in the area!  If Oswald spoke Russian publicly in the USSR, where are the examples?

Anyway, W. Tracy, hope you have a Happy New Year and continue your important work saving America and the world from the scourge of Harvey and Lee!  Despite your continuous declarations to the contrary, it’s an increasingly daunting task!  I understand its importance, though.

Believing that Harvey Oswald understood Russian while in the USSR but pretended he didn’t might make make some people think he was… (gulp)…

… A Spy!

And we can’t have that kind of thinking, right?

PS.  As the fellow who sent me the YouTube link above noted, at one point in the audio recording Oswald lamely attempts a Southern drawl.  It’s hilarious!  And yet, if Harvey Oswald had really grown up with Marguerite, John, and Robert he should have had a natural southern accent. (Robert Oswald still speaks with a heavy drawl.)  Priscilla Johnson claimed the “Oswald” she interviewed had a heavy Southern accent.

C’mon, W. Tracy, let’s hear those recordings of Oswald speaking Russian in the USSR!

Happy New Year to you too Jim. I like the registered trademark for the "Harvey & Lee Menace" and got a good laugh from it. No one can say you don't have a sense of humor!

I got sick early last year and it took some time to get back in the swing of things and that's why I haven't been around. As far as my research only being tied to only debunking Armstrong, my article series on the LHO exhumation while it was partly directed to Armstrong's theory, still provided an important overview of the subject in my opinion. The late Gary Mack, who helped me during my research, thought so as well. I am currently working on a project (not about Armstrong) that I hope will be of general interest to researchers and I will let you know when it is finished. However, I do have some Armstrong things in the pipeline as well and one will be finished soon.

Titovets, of course, wanted to hear Oswald speak in an English accent and that was the purpose of making the tape. Oswald never exhibited much of an accent in any recordings of him probably because he lost it during his time in Russia.

Edited January 2, 2017 by W. Tracy Parnell

[Jeremy Bojczuk]

Thanks for posting that article, Karl. Contrary to the 'Harvey and Lee' fantasy, there's plentiful evidence that Oswald spoke Russian while in the Soviet Union.

The foreign language aspects of the 'Harvey and Lee' theory really are quite bizarre. For example, one of the book's fictional characters was Hungarian, which apparently made him a native speaker of Russian. Eh? How does that work? I presume the thinking is that both Russian and Hungarian, being foreign languages and not proper languages like English, are full of strange words and sounds, so if you know one lot of funny-sounding non-English words you automatically also know the other lot. I forget which character was supposed to be Hungarian. Was it 'Harvey', or was it 'Lee'? Perhaps it was 'Harley'. Or 'Vee'. Who cares? It's all a load of made-up nonsense anyway.

Then there is the reasoning, if that's the right word to use, behind the idea that the grand 'Harvey and Lee' scheme required one of the fictional characters to be a native speaker of Russian. As the cult's bible proclaims:

Quote

One of the requirements for infiltrating an agent into a foreign country is that he/she have an intimate knowledge of the local language. ... And there is little point in sending an American agent, taught in the United States to speak a Slavic or Oriental language, to infiltrate these countries because they would speak with an accent. One way to avoid the problems of physical appearance and accent is to recruit local residents or former residents living abroad. (Harvey and Lee, p.10)

Although "there is little point in sending an American agent, taught in the United States to speak a Slavic or Oriental language, to infiltrate these countries because they would speak with an accent," that is precisely what happened in the case of Oswald. Such is the relation between the facts and the 'Harvey and Lee' theory.
 

Some readers may wonder why anyone bothers to question this type of obvious nonsense. Isn't it like questioning the theory that there are fairies at the bottom of your garden? There's a danger with all the moon-landings type of JFK conspiracy theories (The Altgens 6 photograph was faked! The Zapruder film was faked! The Muchmore film was faked! JFK's corpse was faked! The trees on the grassy knoll were faked! JFK's death was faked! Oswald was faked! Oswald's mother was faked!). They bring sensible criticism of the official theory into disrepute. For as long as the critical view of the JFK assassination can be tarred by association with this sort of paranoid drivel, the case is unlikely to be taken seriously by a sizeable proportion of the general public.

Incidentally, anyone who is even slightly tempted to believe in the 'Harvey and Lee' fantasy should take an honest look at some of the arguments against it. For example, Mr Hargrove's recent '10 reasons to believe this twaddle' post is nicely rebutted here: http://reopenkennedycase.forumotion.net/t1283-the-ol-pulling-10-reasons-out-of-the-arse-trick .

Mr Parnell writes that "Hargrove is, of course, still promoting the long-debunked John Armstrong double Oswald theory". "Long-debunked" is far too polite. The theory has the unusual distinction of having been debunked two decades before it was even published, as Mr Parnell demonstrates here: http://jfkassassination.net/parnell/3key.htm .

[Jim Hargrove]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Bojczuk said:

Contrary to the 'Harvey and Lee' fantasy, there's plentiful evidence that Oswald spoke Russian while in the Soviet Union.

Then by all means share this "plentiful evidence" with us!

[Jim Hargrove]

1 hour ago, Jeremy Bojczuk said:

The foreign language aspects of the 'Harvey and Lee' theory really are quite bizarre. For example, one of the book's fictional characters was Hungarian, which apparently made him a native speaker of Russian. Eh? How does that work? I presume the thinking is that both Russian and Hungarian, being foreign languages and not proper languages like English, are full of strange words and sounds, so if you know one lot of funny-sounding non-English words you automatically also know the other lot. I forget which character was supposed to be Hungarian. Was it 'Harvey', or was it 'Lee'? Perhaps it was 'Harley'. Or 'Vee'. Who cares? It's all a load of made-up nonsense anyway.

Then there is the reasoning, if that's the right word to use, behind the idea that the grand 'Harvey and Lee' scheme required one of the fictional characters to be a native speaker of Russian. As the cult's bible proclaims:

Although "there is little point in sending an American agent, taught in the United States to speak a Slavic or Oriental language, to infiltrate these countries because they would speak with an accent," that is precisely what happened in the case of Oswald. Such is the relation between the facts and the 'Harvey and Lee' theory.

Rather than rely on Mr. Bojczuk's mischaracterization of our position that Harvey Oswald may have had Hungarian roots, why not examine the EVIDENCE we present here:

http://harveyandlee.net/Harvey Who/Harvey_who.htm

[W. Tracy Parnell]

1 hour ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Rather than rely on Mr. Bojczuk's mischaracterization of our position that Harvey Oswald may have had Hungarian roots, why not examine the EVIDENCE we present here:

http://harveyandlee.net/Harvey Who/Harvey_who.htm

But the "evidence" consists of a crank phone call and one professor's opinion that a letter from Oswald was written by a Russian with an imperfect knowledge of English. That's it.

[Jim Hargrove]

Ah, but you fail to mention that the professor, Vladimir Petrov, was in the Slavic Languages department of Yale University.  According to Encylopaedia Britannica's article on Slavic Languages, Russian is an East Slavic language (there are also west and south Slavic languages).  That surely makes his opinion an expert one.

You can hardly prove that the phone call the Tippits (no relation to the murdered cop, I think) described to the FBI was a crank call.  Nor is it proof that Harvey Oswald had Hungarian roots.   It is a possibility, though, which is all we ever suggest.

Listen to audio recordings of the "Oswald" killed by Jack Ruby.  Does he sound to you like a young man born and raised in the American South?

[W. Tracy Parnell]

1 hour ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Listen to audio recordings of the "Oswald" killed by Jack Ruby.  Does he sound to you like a young man born and raised in the American South?

Not the typical young man born in the south, but he spent nearly three years in Russia which would certainly have an effect on his accent. Which is why he can't be compared to someone like Robert BTW who didn't.

[Thomas Graves]

2 hours ago, W. Tracy Parnell said:

Not the typical young man born in the south, but he spent nearly three years in Russia which would certainly have an effect on his accent. Which is why he can't be compared to someone like Robert BTW who didn't.

 

Tracy,

Not to mention the one and one-half years that he lived in NYC.  Or was that "Harry Oswald" and his mother, "Marguerita"?

http://jfkassassination.net/parnell/chrono.htm

LOL

--  Tommy

Edited January 2, 2017 by Thomas Graves

[W. Tracy Parnell]

1 hour ago, Thomas Graves said:

 

Tracy,

Not to mention the one and one-half years that he lived in NYC.  Or was that "Harry Oswald" and his mother, "Marguerita"?

http://jfkassassination.net/parnell/chrono.htm

LOL

--  Tommy

Good point Thomas. If memory serves, I believe Oswald was teased when he first arrived in NY because of the way he talked. He just eventually lost most of the accent because of his various environments.

Edited January 2, 2017 by W. Tracy Parnell

[Sandy Larsen]

On 1/2/2017 at 5:45 AM, Jeremy Bojczuk said:

Incidentally, anyone who is even slightly tempted to believe in the 'Harvey and Lee' fantasy should take an honest look at some of the arguments against it. For example, Mr Hargrove's recent '10 reasons to believe this twaddle' post is nicely rebutted here: http://reopenkennedycase.forumotion.net/t1283-the-ol-pulling-10-reasons-out-of-the-arse-trick .

Yes, I agree with Jeremy that people should read the supposed rebuttal he links to. Because you will quickly discover that there is no rebuttal at all... just a bunch of opinions. No evidence or detailed lines of reasoning are presented.

I've seen nothing here from Karl Kinaski, Tracy Parnell, or Jeremy Bojczuk that sways me from believing John Armstrong has a convincing case that there were two Oswalds.

If you guys want to convince people like me that Armstrong is wrong, why not engage in real debate? Quit  throwing around ad hominems and claiming that the Harvey & Lee theory has been debunked, when in fact it has not!

Edited January 3, 2017 by Sandy Larsen

[Jeremy Bojczuk]

Mr Hargrove recommends that we study http://harveyandlee.net/Harvey Who/Harvey_who.htm . The article starts off ('Who Was Harvey?') badly, by begging the question. It assumes that which it needs to prove: that a character named 'Harvey Oswald', who spoke Russian, actually existed. The article is full of this, as is the 'Harvey and Lee' book. Mr Hargrove makes the same logical mistake; in one of his replies, for example, he writes that "Nor is it [the phone call] proof that Harvey Oswald had Hungarian roots. It is a possibility, though, which is all we ever suggest."

The existence of a Russian-speaking Oswald lookalike is absolutely fundamental to the 'Harvey and Lee' theory. But it is supported by next to evidence. All we have is one anonymous, unsolicited phone call, which claimed that Oswald's father and uncle were Hungarian. How exactly does this indicate that Oswald spoke Russian expertly, as the 'Harvey and Lee' doctrine requires? All the article gives us is: "It should be noted that Russian is an often-spoken second language in Hungary, and it would hardly be surprising that Hungarian immigrants could speak Russian fluently."

The article does admit that "an anonymous telephone tip can hardly be considered proof of anything", but that's as far as any reasonable scepticism goes. The article does not mention any corroboration for the anonymous phone call. It does not mention any efforts to look for such corroboration. It does not mention any efforts to identify the caller, in order to gauge her reliability. In the absence of any such supporting evidence, the phone call is as worthless as any other crank call. There is no reason to suppose that Oswald had any Hungarian relatives. And if Oswald had no Hungarian relatives, the most fundamental aspect of the 'Harvey and Lee' fantasy crumbles into dust. There was no 'Harvey Oswald'. He is a fictional character.

The article cites no evidence to support the hopeful opinion that Hungarian immigrants to the US might have spoken Russian fluently. Among which social groups and age groups of Hungarians was Russian a second language? Did these Hungarians speak Russian well enough to be mistaken for native speakers? Did they only speak it competently? Or did they know just enough to deal with the Soviet occupiers of their country? The fictional 'Harvey' was in New York by the age of 12, and had been in the US long enough to have learned to speak English fluently. He must have left Hungary several years earlier. Given that Hungarian and Russian are quite unrelated languages, how much Russian could the fictional 'Harvey' have learned in his first few years? None of these questions are answered in the article.

So much for the article cited by Mr Hargrove. What about the Holy Book? The phone call and its implications are dealt with on pages 66-67 of Harvey and Lee. Again, there is no mention of any effort to identify the caller or gauge her reliability, although Armstrong does admit that "I knew that the information provided by the unknown woman was tenuous and unverified" (p.67). It was indeed tenuous and unverified, but that isn't enough to stop it being used as the whole basis of the 'Harvey and Lee' theory.

I wonder if Mr Hargrove is able to provide us with answers to the following questions:

- What evidence is there that a Hungarian refugee to the US would have spoken Russian well enough to be mistaken for a native speaker?
- What efforts have been made to corroborate the anonymous phone call?
- What efforts have been made to identify the caller?
- In the absence of such efforts, how is it possible to give the phone call any credibility at all?