A Couple of Real Gems from the "Harvey and Lee" Website

[Jim Hargrove]

On 8/13/2017 at 5:13 AM, Jeremy Bojczuk said:

But let's not forget that the hypothetical Hungarian refugee child, for whose existence not a single piece of documentary evidence has yet been produced, was already speaking perfect American English when he was conjured into life in New York at the age of 12.

I've already shown the FBI report that supposedly doesn't exist, but it is interesting that Mr. Bojczuk would say LHO was “conjured into life in New York.”  It is the EVIDENCE, not Mr. Bojczuk’s imaginary sorcerer, that shows, for example, that two Lee Harvey Oswalds attended school in the fall semester of 1953, one in New York City, the other in New Orleans.

In 1953, Marguerite and LEE were living in a basement apartment at 1455 Sheridan while LEE was attending PS 44 in New York City. After the assassination SAC John Malone, the FBI agent in charge of the New York Office, inspected Oswald's original court file in the presence of Judge Florence Kelley. Malone took notes and sent a report to FBI Director Hoover the following day. Malone wrote, "Oswald's attendance record at PS #44 from 3/23/53 to 1/12/54 was 171 and 11 half-days present and 18 and 11 half days absent. If LEE Oswald's 182 days of attendance (171 full days, 11 1/2 days) and 18 absences are plotted on 1953 and 1954 calendars it is easy to see that LEE Oswald attended PS 44 full time during the entire 1953 school year. 

In the fall of 1953 LEE Oswald was attending the eighth grade at PS 44 in New York, while HARVEY Oswald and his caretaker/mother were living at 126 Exchange Place in New Orleans. HARVEY was enrolled in the eighth grade at Beauregard Junior High, and because he attended school part-time he was not assigned a home room. On page 817, of Warren Volume 22, there is a copy of Oswald's cumulative school records at Beauregard.  The first row, highlighted in yellow, is the fall semester of 1953 and shows that Oswald attended a General Science class, a Physical Education class, and attended 89 days of school with only one absence. The second row is for the last half of the eighth grade (spring semester).  The third row shows final grades, absences, and tardies for the entire 53-54 school year (eighth grade).

This information has been available to Mr. Bojczuk for more than 50 years.  Now, of course, he asks that I discuss the earliest evidence of two Oswalds in the United States, so that he can show how unlikely it was for a Hungarian kid to have learned Russian when coming to the United States after the war.  To do so, he uses a statement that Russian became universally mandatory in Hungarian schools in 1950 when, in fact, he ignores my citation of an abstract of an article from Journal Paedagogica Historica, International Journal of the History of Education, stating: “In the period between 1945 and 1989, the learning of Russian as a compulsory subject was introduced, teaching other languages was restricted, and Hungarian-Russian bilingual schools were launched.”  Read it HERE.

I will be happy to discuss in detail with Mr. Bojczuk the evidence of two Oswalds in the U.S. at the earliest time if he will simply provide an explanation that passes the giggle test of how LHO learned Russian.

[Jim Hargrove]

3 hours ago, Sandy Larsen said:

Jim,

Keep up the good work.

 

Thanks, Sandy!  It's a funny thing about the truth.  No matter how many people attack it, it just stays right there in plain sight.

[Sandy Larsen]

1 hour ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Thanks, Sandy!  It's a funny thing about the truth.  No matter how many people attack it, it just stays right there in plain sight.

I know exactly what you mean. I discovered a long time ago that if I always followed the truth, I would never face criticism. (Which as a child bothered me a lot due to low self esteem.) And that sometimes I'd have to adjust my beliefs as new information appeared. I've kept a pretty opened mind since then.

While I do feel strongly about certain things, I'll switch sides in a heartbeat if I'm shown to be wrong.

 

[Michael Walton]

Johnny said it best. This whole clone story is a disgraceful myth, a fairy tale.  And I love the way his quote talks about how myths are pie in the sky, unrealistic capers that keep getting hammered on over and over again as Hargrove and his mentor do, and as people like Larsen and others continue to fall for.

https://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/09/5b/74/095b74a39c0f7838d529f1f822a47860.jpg

https://media.giphy.com/media/NZOlQHWccBfYA/giphy.gif

[Michael Clark]

On 8/16/2017 at 7:06 PM, Michael Walton said:

Johnny said it best. This whole clone story is a disgraceful myth, a fairy tale.  And I love the way his quote talks about how myths are pie in the sky, unrealistic capers that keep getting hammered on over and over again as Hargrove and his mentor do, and as people like Larsen and others continue to fall for.

https://media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/09/5b/74/095b74a39c0f7838d529f1f822a47860.jpg

https://media.giphy.com/media/NZOlQHWccBfYA/giphy.gif

Michael, Are you Mark Henceroth?

http://educationforum.ipbhost.com/profile/6325-mark-henceroth/

Edited August 18, 2017 by Michael Clark

[Jim Hargrove]

Unlike Mr. Walton, I like to talk about EVIDENCE.  And so I’ll continue to do so….

The earliest known evidence that a second Lee Harvey Oswald was living in the United States dates back to the summer of 1947.  In July of that year, while Marguerite and her son LEE Oswald were living on 8th Ave. in Fort Worth, Marguerite purchased 101 San Saba in Benbrook, a suburb of Fort Worth.  A month earlier, in June, Georgia Bell and her husband, Walter, purchased a property and began building their home directly across the street from the house in which Mrs. Oswald and the young boy were soon living (101 San Saba). Georgia, who lived at 100 San Saba for the next 50 years, remembered that Marguerite Oswald and the young boy lived at 101 San Saba from May through Thanksgiving, 1947. Tarrant County land records confirm that Walter and Georgia Bell purchased their property in June, 1947, and also confirm that Marguerite Ekdahl purchased the existing house at 101 San Saba the previous month.

Georgia Bell remembered buying groceries for the woman she knew as Marguerite Oswald, taking her to the store, and remembered that the young boy with her played with neighborhood children. She remembered that a neighbor, Lucille Hubbard, drove Mrs. Oswald to pick up some clothes from another house when she got a job as a nurse. Mrs. Hubbard confided to Georgia that Marguerite had furniture and lots of clothes stored at this house which was located "across from Stripling School," which was probably 2220 Thomas Place in Fort Worth, where the woman known as “Marguerite Oswald” lived on and off numerous times, including at the time of the assassination of JFK.

If the Russian-speaking Oswald was a Hungarian immigrant, as suggested in the anonymous phone call to Mr. and Mrs. Tippit from Connecticut, then he might have learned Russian in the years 1945 to 1947 in school in Hungary.  If, that is, the Journal Paedagogica Historica abstract is correct in stating that “In the period between 1945 and 1989, the learning of Russian as a compulsory subject was introduced, teaching other languages was restricted, and Hungarian-Russian bilingual schools were launched.”

Since he was probably born somewhere around 1939, for this theory to work he would probably have had to have Russian instruction in his earliest elementary grades, not at grade 5 and above as Mathias has suggested was the case, at least after 1950 in Hungary.  If Russian was not taught in 1945-47 to younger students in at least some Hungarian schools, this theory probably fails.  If it was, then it was possible that the young boy who assumed the name LHO had time to attend up to hundreds of Russian classes.

This time frame also gives the immigrant child six years to learn to speak English before appearing in New York City schools, plenty of time for a child of his age to learn to speak without much of an accent.  After all, Mr. Bojczuk want us to believe it was easy for Oswald to become fluent reading, writing, and speaking Russian in just two and a half years in the USSR (and just a year and a half according to Marina, who said he was reading Russian classics before they were married).

[Jeremy Bojczuk]

Jim complains that I use "a statement that Russian became universally mandatory in Hungarian schools in 1950", and that I ignore his "citation of an abstract of an article from Journal Paedagogica Historica". He is missing the point.

Jim's preferred source claims that:

<blockquote>In the period between 1945 and 1989, the learning of Russian as a compulsory subject was introduced, teaching other languages was restricted, and Hungarian-Russian bilingual schools were launched.</blockquote>

( http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/00309230.2017.1349158?journalCode=cpdh20'& )

The other article claims that:

<blockquote>For 40 years (from 1950 to 1989) Russian was the compulsory first (and in many cases the only) foreign language in schools. The teaching of West European languages became possible after 1958 as a second foreign language, but unlike Russian, which was taught for 8 years (grades 5 to 12), West European languages were taught in 2 or 3 classes a week for 3-4 years only in upper secondary school.</blockquote>

( http://ludens.elte.hu/~deal/pages/novelty/htm2/vol91/lukacs.html )

The point Matthias made, and which I emphasised, is that the teaching of Russian in Hungarian schools did not begin until grade 5. The year in which Russian began to be taught in Hungarian schools is immaterial.

It doesn't matter how many years this teaching had been going on by the time Jim's hypothetical refugee child reached grade 5 at his school in Hungary. The point is that there was a period of only two years between the time the hypothetical child could have begun learning Russian and the time when the hypothetical child appears in New York with the name of Lee Harvey Oswald and the ability to speak perfect English. If the hypothetical boy existed, he must have learned two foreign languages, Russian and English, to the level of a native speaker in just two years.

I suppose it's possible that someone with a unusual aptitude for learning languages could reach that level in Russian in one year, given the sort of intensive expert tuition that is very, very, very unlikely to have been available in Hungarian schools. But to do that again the next year with English? Where did this course in English take place, given that Western European languages were not taught in Hungary until after 1958, long after the hypothetical Hungarian refugee had hypothetically emigrated to the US without leaving any official documentary trace? Is there any evidence that the US school system offered year-long intensive expert tuition in English? Clearly, the English-speaking Oswald who was at school in New York at the age of 12 cannot have been a Russian-speaking Hungarian refugee.

In his latest post, Jim writes:

<blockquote>If the Russian-speaking Oswald was a Hungarian immigrant, as suggested in the anonymous phone call to Mr. and Mrs. Tippit from Connecticut, then he might have learned Russian in the years 1945 to 1947 in school in Hungary... For this theory to work he would probably have had to have Russian instruction in his earliest elementary grades, not at grade 5 and above.</blockquote>

In other words, for the Hungarian refugee story to be correct, the article which specifies that Russian was only taught from grade 5 onwards must be incorrect. Which source is the more likely to be reliable: a crank phone call without any supporting evidence, or an article in an academic journal?

Of course, it may be that the author of the article has been bribed or tortured by the same people who set up the fictional 'Oswald project', and that the article is incorrect and a deliberate attempt to turn the entirely sane and reasonable 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory into a laughing stock. But in the absence of any evidence of bribery or torture, I think we should give the article the benefit of the doubt, don't you?

[Jim Hargrove]

Mr. Bojczuk informs us that only Hungarian students in the 5th grade and higher were given mandatory Russian language instruction in school.  He fails to say, however, that the source Mathias cited for this restriction indicated that the fifth grade rule was put into effect when mandatory Russian language instruction was codified in 1950.  Mr. Bojczuk makes no mention of what happened in the previous half decade, although the abstract of the scholarly magazine article I cited clearly indicates Russian instruction in Hungary began in 1945.

Hungary was one of the Axis Powers in World War II.  According to the Siege of Budapest page from Wikipedia, by October 29, 1944 more than 1,000,000 Red Army soldiers surrounded the capital city of Hungary and began tightening their grip.  Can you imagine the extent of Russian influence that followed, and how harsh it must have been?  What inconceivable excesses continued for the years thereafter?  I don’t believe anyone on this group is qualified to declare that no one below the 5th grade in Hungary was forced to learn Russian in the years immediately after World War II.

I can understand, however, why Mr. Bojczuk wishes to talk about this theory, rather than the far more significant question of how did “Lee Harvey Oswald” learn to speak, read, write, and understand Russian well enough to get more questions right than wrong on a Russian language exam with no known formal instruction whatsoever.  I ask Mr. Bojczuk, again, to provide an explanation for Oswald’s Russian language skills before “defecting” to the USSR that passes the giggle test.
 

[Michael Walton]

JEREMY - It doesn't matter how many years this teaching had been going on by the time Jim's hypothetical refugee child reached grade 5 at his school in Hungary. The point is that there was a period of only two years between the time the hypothetical child could have begun learning Russian and the time when the hypothetical child appears in New York with the name of Lee Harvey Oswald and the ability to speak perfect English. If the hypothetical boy existed, he must have learned two foreign languages, Russian and English, to the level of a native speaker in just two years.

But Jeremy, don't you know? Sandy Larsen has EVIDENCE - you know, that's all he goes by - that children can learn things much, much faster than adults.  So you cannot ever question Sandy Larsen's (ahem...snort) EV-I-DENCE. You, know, because, er, he only goes by...the EV-I-DENCE.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_mcs5z4gyRH1r4ekn1o9_250.gif

What a xxxxing joke!

[Sandy Larsen]

Whether the Russian language was taught in Hungary beginning at 5th grade or before then has no bearing on the viability of the Hungarian Orphan theory. There are numerous possible scenarios in which HARVEY could have learned Russian in Eastern Europe. A simple one, off the top of my head, is that HARVEY could have been born in a Russian speaking household inside Hungary, and learned the language from his caretakers, who may have been his parents. His caretakers may have been killed in WWII skirmishes and somehow HARVEY ended up in the hands of the Hungarian men who took him to the United States.

It's even possible that HARVEY was born in southeast Poland, in an region known as Eastern Galicia. Prior to WWI, Galicia was a part of the Kingdom of Hungary. So it wouldn't be unreasonable to believe that the people who lived there at the time of HARVEY's birth considered themselves to be Hungarians, not Polish. Especially considering that the Polish government treated these minorities unfavorably.

In 1939, the supposed year of HARVEY's birth, the Soviet Union invaded Poland, at which time Galicia (remember, formerly part of Hungary) was occupied by the Russians. In 1945 Galicia was annexed by the Soviets and it became part of Ukraine. This made sense given that the primary language of Eastern Galicia was Ukrainian. The Russian language had long been taught in Ukraine due to Russification efforts. So it's highly likely that the Russian Language requirements would have also applied to the new Ukrainian population introduced with the annexation of Galicia.

In summary, it's possible that HARVEY was born in a Soviet-occupied former region of Hungary (Galicia), and then six years later was assimilated into Russified Ukraine where HARVEY learned Russian.
 

[Sandy Larsen]

Just now, Sandy Larsen said:

In summary, it's possible that HARVEY was born in a Soviet-occupied former region of Hungary (Galicia), and then six years later was assimilated into Russified Ukraine where HARVEY learned Russian.

Suppose that HARVEY and that two men associated with him in New York weren't even Hungarian. It's possible that they were former Soviet citizens, but were hiding that fact from their communist hating American neighbors.

If so, it's possible that they immigrated from one of the Baltic states. Which would explain Marina's opinion that HARVEY spoke with a Baltic accent.

 

[Jeremy Bojczuk]

Jim claims that "the source Mathias cited for this restriction indicated that the fifth grade rule was put into effect when mandatory Russian language instruction was codified in 1950". I suggest that he reads the article again. Here is the relevant passage:

<blockquote>For 40 years (from 1950 to 1989) Russian was the compulsory first (and in many cases the only) foreign language in schools. The teaching of West European languages became possible after 1958 as a second foreign language, but unlike Russian, which was taught for 8 years (grades 5 to 12), West European languages were taught in 2 or 3 classes a week for 3-4 years only in upper secondary school.</blockquote>

Contrary to Jim's claim, the article does not indicate that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards from 1950. The significance of 1950 is clear: 1950 is when Russian became "the compulsory first (and in many cases the only) foreign language in schools", not that Russian tuition was introduced in 1950, or that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards in 1950, or that the people who went on to fake the moon landings began their 'Oswald doppelgänger project' in 1950.

Jim writes:

<blockquote>I ask Mr. Bojczuk, again, to provide an explanation for Oswald’s Russian language skills before "defecting" to the USSR.</blockquote>

How many more times do I need to explain this before Jim acknowledges that Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian? As I pointed out earlier, the evidence clearly shows that Oswald learned Russian gradually: he started out not knowing very much Russian, and later his knowledge improved. This means one of two things: either he was not a native speaker, or, alternatively, he spent the last few years of his life actively concealing his ability to speak Russian like a native. Which of those alternatives is the more likely to be true, do you think?

Here, again, is the evidence. At the time he took the Russian test, Oswald had a limited understanding of written Russian and an even more limited understanding of spoken Russian. If you don't believe me, check the source I cited earlier: http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=36#relPageId=315 . Several months later, he was able to converse in the language, but at a level that must have been well below that of a native speaker because he was still making frequent grammatical mistakes three or four years afterwards.

There's nothing superhuman in Oswald's gradual acquisition of Russian. Why does Jim find this so difficult to accept? The one and only Lee Harvey Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian. Unfortunately, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory requires him to have been a native speaker of Russian. Consequently, as I'm sure Jim will now agree, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory is nonsense.

[Dawn Meredith]

On ‎8‎/‎16‎/‎2017 at 6:45 AM, Sandy Larsen said:

Jim,

Keep up the good work.

 

Agreed.  The level of anger here is hard to take.  Have any of these naysayers actually read Harvey and Lee?  Jim it is very admirable of you to continue to support this evidence with so many posters attacking you.

Dawn

[Jim Hargrove]

Mr.Bojczuk’s comments in blue, mine in black:

Contrary to Jim's claim, the article does not indicate that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards from 1950. The significance of 1950 is clear: 1950 is when Russian became "the compulsory first (and in many cases the only) foreign language in schools", not that Russian tuition was introduced in 1950, or that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards in 1950, or that the people who went on to fake the moon landings began their 'Oswald doppelgänger project' in 1950.

Once again, Mr. Bojczuk completely ignores the Journal Paedagogica Historica abstract which states that compulsory Russian instruction in Hungarian schools began in 1945. Nowhere does the article he cites by Lukács Krisztina refer to the specifics of Russian instruction in Hungarian schools during the years 1945 to 1947. That article is irrelevant to the time span under consideration in this discussion.

There is no evidence at all that Russian language instruction in Hungarian school during the years 1945-1947 commenced only at the 5th grade level. If he had some evidence, surely Mr. Bojczuk would have produced it by now. Even if there was evidence for the years in question, as Sandy Larsen has shown above, there are lots of other possible ways Harvey Oswald could have learned Russian in Eastern Europe. The distance between countries with different languages is relatively short in Europe, and young children learn languages fairly quickly and easily. No doubt Mr. Bojczuk will continue to talk about Grade 5 instruction....

It doesn't matter how many years this teaching had been going on by the time Jim's hypothetical refugee child reached grade 5 at his school in Hungary. The point is that there was a period of only two years between the time the hypothetical child could have begun learning Russian and the time when the hypothetical child appears in New York with the name of Lee Harvey Oswald and the ability to speak perfect English. If the hypothetical boy existed, he must have learned two foreign languages, Russian and English, to the level of a native speaker in just two years.

Mr. Bojczuk should at least make an attempt to understand the material he is trying to debunk. It is clear from Harvey and Lee, clear from my website, and clear from my posts immediately above that I believe Russian-speaking Harvey Oswald FIRST APPEARED in a Fort Worth suburb in the U.S. during the summer of 1947, not just six years later in New York. Harvey probably learned the rudiments of Russian either as a first or second language as a child, then was moved to the U.S., and spent the next six years learning to speak (but not write) good English. Is that so difficult to understand?

How many more times do I need to explain this before Jim acknowledges that Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian? As I pointed out earlier, the evidence clearly shows that Oswald learned Russian gradually: he started out not knowing very much Russian, and later his knowledge improved. This means one of two things: either he was not a native speaker, or, alternatively, he spent the last few years of his life actively concealing his ability to speak Russian like a native. Which of those alternatives is the more likely to be true, do you think?

Here, again, is the evidence. At the time he took the Russian test, Oswald had a limited understanding of written Russian and an even more limited understanding of spoken Russian. If you don't believe me, check the source I cited earlier: http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=36#relPageId=315 . Several months later, he was able to converse in the language, but at a level that must have been well below that of a native speaker because he was still making frequent grammatical mistakes three or four years afterwards.

Unless he learned it as a child, the existing EVIDENCE shows that Oswald learned Russian suddenly and dramatically. According to the Warren Commission, Oswald was stationed in Japan from September 1957 until November 1958, more than a year. But no Marine stationed at Atsugi noticed Oswald speaking, reading or writing Russian.

The Warren Commission says that Oswald left Japan and reported for duty at the Marine Corps Air Facility in Santa Ana, California, in December 1958. A month later, he took the infamous Russian language test in which he got more questions right than wrong. A few months after that, he spent two hours conversing in Russian with Rosaleen Quinn. While he was stationed in California, he conspicuously read Russian literature, blasted Russian songs so loud they could be heard outside his barracks, and became known to his fellow soldiers as Comrade Oswaldovitch. But this happened only—and suddenly--in California.

To anyone who happens to read this please take note. Mr. Bojczuk wants you to believe that Oswald learned Russian, without the benefit of a classroom, teacher or textbook, by reading Russian newspapers and other Russian literature in his barracks in his spare time with a Russian-English dictionary. Here, again, is an image of a Russian-language newspaper printed in San Francisco:

 

 

Exactly who could learn to read the above in a month's worth of spare time with no instructor, no textbooks, and just a dictionary at hand.  You're kidding, right? 

There's nothing superhuman in Oswald's gradual acquisition of Russian. Why does Jim find this so difficult to accept? The one and only Lee Harvey Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian. Unfortunately, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory requires him to have been a native speaker of Russian. Consequently, as I'm sure Jim will now agree, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory is nonsense.

Apparently Mr. Bojczuk considers learning to read, write, and speak Russian well enough to read Russian newspapers in one month without formal instruction in one's spare time is a gradual process.

 

 

As always, Mr. Bojczuk's explanation for Oswald's Russian language ability simply doesn't pass the giggle test.

 

[Mathias Baumann]

4 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Mr.Bojczuk’s comments in blue, mine in black:

Contrary to Jim's claim, the article does not indicate that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards from 1950. The significance of 1950 is clear: 1950 is when Russian became "the compulsory first (and in many cases the only) foreign language in schools", not that Russian tuition was introduced in 1950, or that Russian was restricted to grade 5 onwards in 1950, or that the people who went on to fake the moon landings began their 'Oswald doppelgänger project' in 1950.

Once again, Mr. Bojczuk completely ignores the Journal Paedagogica Historica abstract which states that compulsory Russian instruction in Hungarian schools began in 1945. Nowhere does the article he cites by Lukács Krisztina refer to the specifics of Russian instruction in Hungarian schools during the years 1945 to 1947. That article is irrelevant to the time span under consideration in this discussion.

There is no evidence at all that Russian language instruction in Hungarian school during the years 1945-1947 commenced only at the 5th grade level. If he had some evidence, surely Mr. Bojczuk would have produced it by now. Even if there was evidence for the years in question, as Sandy Larsen has shown above, there are lots of other possible ways Harvey Oswald could have learned Russian in Eastern Europe. The distance between countries with different languages is relatively short in Europe, and young children learn languages fairly quickly and easily. No doubt Mr. Bojczuk will continue to talk about Grade 5 instruction....

It doesn't matter how many years this teaching had been going on by the time Jim's hypothetical refugee child reached grade 5 at his school in Hungary. The point is that there was a period of only two years between the time the hypothetical child could have begun learning Russian and the time when the hypothetical child appears in New York with the name of Lee Harvey Oswald and the ability to speak perfect English. If the hypothetical boy existed, he must have learned two foreign languages, Russian and English, to the level of a native speaker in just two years.

Mr. Bojczuk should at least make an attempt to understand the material he is trying to debunk. It is clear from Harvey and Lee, clear from my website, and clear from my posts immediately above that I believe Russian-speaking Harvey Oswald FIRST APPEARED in a Fort Worth suburb in the U.S. during the summer of 1947, not just six years later in New York. Harvey probably learned the rudiments of Russian either as a first or second language as a child, then was moved to the U.S., and spent the next six years learning to speak (but not write) good English. Is that so difficult to understand?

How many more times do I need to explain this before Jim acknowledges that Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian? As I pointed out earlier, the evidence clearly shows that Oswald learned Russian gradually: he started out not knowing very much Russian, and later his knowledge improved. This means one of two things: either he was not a native speaker, or, alternatively, he spent the last few years of his life actively concealing his ability to speak Russian like a native. Which of those alternatives is the more likely to be true, do you think?

Here, again, is the evidence. At the time he took the Russian test, Oswald had a limited understanding of written Russian and an even more limited understanding of spoken Russian. If you don't believe me, check the source I cited earlier: http://www.maryferrell.org/showDoc.html?docId=36#relPageId=315 . Several months later, he was able to converse in the language, but at a level that must have been well below that of a native speaker because he was still making frequent grammatical mistakes three or four years afterwards.

Unless he learned it as a child, the existing EVIDENCE shows that Oswald learned Russian suddenly and dramatically. According to the Warren Commission, Oswald was stationed in Japan from September 1957 until November 1958, more than a year. But no Marine stationed at Atsugi noticed Oswald speaking, reading or writing Russian.

The Warren Commission says that Oswald left Japan and reported for duty at the Marine Corps Air Facility in Santa Ana, California, in December 1958. A month later, he took the infamous Russian language test in which he got more questions right than wrong. A few months after that, he spent two hours conversing in Russian with Rosaleen Quinn. While he was stationed in California, he conspicuously read Russian literature, blasted Russian songs so loud they could be heard outside his barracks, and became known to his fellow soldiers as Comrade Oswaldovitch. But this happened only—and suddenly--in California.

To anyone who happens to read this please take note. Mr. Bojczuk wants you to believe that Oswald learned Russian, without the benefit of a classroom, teacher or textbook, by reading Russian newspapers and other Russian literature in his barracks in his spare time with a Russian-English dictionary. Here, again, is an image of a Russian-language newspaper printed in San Francisco:

 

 

Exactly who could learn to read the above in a month's worth of spare time with no instructor, no textbooks, and just a dictionary at hand.  You're kidding, right? 

There's nothing superhuman in Oswald's gradual acquisition of Russian. Why does Jim find this so difficult to accept? The one and only Lee Harvey Oswald was not a native speaker of Russian. Unfortunately, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory requires him to have been a native speaker of Russian. Consequently, as I'm sure Jim will now agree, the 'Harvey and Lee and Marguerite and Marguerite' theory is nonsense.

Apparently Mr. Bojczuk considers learning to read, write, and speak Russian well enough to read Russian newspapers in one month without formal instruction in one's spare time is a gradual process.

 

 

As always, Mr. Bojczuk's explanation for Oswald's Russian language ability simply doesn't pass the giggle test.

 

Jim,

I don't think Oswald was able to read that kind of high-brow newspaper articles by the time he passed the Marine Corps test.

 

"People wishing to work as military language analysts are required to maintain at least L2/R2 proficiency."

Source: https://www.german-way.com/levels-of-language-proficiency-my-life-in-germany/

 

Now what does L2/R2 mean exactly?

 

R-2: Reading 2 (Limited Working Proficiency)

Sufficient comprehension to read simple, authentic written material in a form

equivalent to usual printing or typescript on subjects within a familiar context. Able to

read with some misunderstandings straightforward, familiar, factual material, but in

general insufficiently experienced with the language to draw inferences directly from

the linguistic aspects of the text. Can locate and understand the main ideas and details

in material written for the general reader. However, persons who have professional

knowledge of a subject may be able to summarize or perform sorting and locating tasks

with written texts that are well beyond their general proficiency level. The individual

can read uncomplicated, but authentic prose on familiar subjects that are normally

presented in a predictable sequence which aids the reader in understanding. Texts may

include descriptions and narrations in contexts such as news items describing

frequently occurring events, simple biographical information, social notices, formulaic

business letters, and simple technical material written for the general reader. Generally

the prose that can be read by the individual is predominantly in straightforward/highfrequency

sentence patterns. The individual does not have a broad active vocabulary

(that is, which he/she recognizes immediately on sight), but is able to use contextual

and real-world cues to understand the text. Characteristically, however, the individual

is quite slow in performing such a process. Is typically able to answer factual questions

about authentic texts of the types described above. [Data Code 20]

 

Listening 2 (Limited Working Proficiency)

Sufficient comprehension to understand conversations on routine social demands and

limited job requirements. Able to understand face-to-face speech in a standard dialect,

delivered at a normal rate with some repetition and rewording, by a native speaker not

used to dealing with foreigners, about everyday topics, common personal and family

news, well-known current events and routine office matters through descriptions and

narration about current, past and future events; can follow essential points of discussion

or speech at an elementary level on topics in his/her special professional field. Only

understands occasional words and phrases of statements made in unfavorable

conditions, for example through loudspeakers outdoors. Understands factual content.

Native language causes less interference in listening comprehension. Able to

understand facts; i.e., the lines but not between or beyond the lines. (Has been coded L-

2 in some nonautomated applications.) [Data Code 20]

Source: Defense Language Proficiency Test 5 System,  Familiarization Guide for Multiple-Choice Format

--> http://www.dliflc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Generic-Fam-Guide-MC-CBu-updated.pdf

 

I definitely agree with you up to a certain point - I don't think he could've passed the test without formal instruction. There's no way he could've taught himself enough Russian to pass the test in just a few months time. And certainly not from a dictionary and newspaper articles alone.

 But we should on the other hand not exaggerate the language skills he possessed at that point. After all he barely got a passing grade. And as you can see above the level required for a passing grade is not THAT high. The scale goes up to L5/R5 after all.

I think a low estimate would be that he'd have needed somewhere around 100 to 200 individual lessons to pass the exam.

Edited August 18, 2017 by Mathias Baumann