A Minsk tidbit

[Guest]

I just signed up for this forum, although I have followed the JFK assassination since the 1970's and recently put my 66-year-old eyes at risk by reading Walt Brown's entire Chronology (including all Appendices) on Kindle, together with Harvey and Lee in hard copy.

My wife lived in Minsk until age 53 and her sister spent her entire career in the factory where LHO was employed. The factory was well-known in Minsk for high-level military work (presumably radar). Solely because of their work there, neither the sister nor her husband was allowed to travel outside the USSR (they were both technical illustrators, not factory workers). Despite being a native of the USSR and a good Communist, my wife was never allowed to set foot beyond the entryway. She had to telephone her sister from the entryway with a guard standing by, and the sister would then meet her in the entryway. Even with LHO's military radar background (such as it was), it seems odd to me (and to my wife and her sister) that he would have been allowed anywhere near there as a recent defector. It seemingly would have made much more sense to put him in a tractor factory or a potato collective. Perhaps it was a test to see if he would become suspiciously inquisitive? Even if there had been no JFK assassination, the entire no-problem defection, marriage to the mysterious Marina ("This was no ordinary Russian girl," as my wife says), and no-problem return to the U.S. was so bizarre and near-inexplicable that it would be enough in itself to tell us LHO was involved in something much larger than himself.

[Thomas Graves]

I just signed up for this forum, although I have followed the JFK assassination since the 1970's and recently put my 66-year-old eyes at risk by reading Walt Brown's entire Chronology (including all Appendices) on Kindle, together with Harvey and Lee in hard copy.

My wife lived in Minsk until age 53 and her sister spent her entire career in the factory where LHO was employed. The factory was well-known in Minsk for high-level military work (presumably radar). Solely because of their work there, neither the sister nor her husband was allowed to travel outside the USSR (they were both technical illustrators, not factory workers). Despite being a native of the USSR and a good Communist, my wife was never allowed to set foot beyond the entryway. She had to telephone her sister from the entryway with a guard standing by, and the sister would then meet her in the entryway. Even with LHO's military radar background (such as it was), it seems odd to me (and to my wife and her sister) that he would have been allowed anywhere near there as a recent defector. It seemingly would have made much more sense to put him in a tractor factory or a potato collective. Perhaps it was a test to see if he would become suspiciously inquisitive? Even if there had been no JFK assassination, the entire no-problem defection, marriage to the mysterious Marina ("This was no ordinary Russian girl," as my wife says), and no-problem return to the U.S. was so bizarre and near-inexplicable that it would be enough in itself to tell us LHO was involved in something much larger than himself.

Welcome Lance,

You write very well.

One question: What year did your sister-in-law start working at that factory?

Thanks,

--Tommy

[Guest]

I just signed up for this forum, although I have followed the JFK assassination since the 1970's and recently put my 66-year-old eyes at risk by reading Walt Brown's entire Chronology (including all Appendices) on Kindle, together with Harvey and Lee in hard copy.

My wife lived in Minsk until age 53 and her sister spent her entire career in the factory where LHO was employed. The factory was well-known in Minsk for high-level military work (presumably radar). Solely because of their work there, neither the sister nor her husband was allowed to travel outside the USSR (they were both technical illustrators, not factory workers). Despite being a native of the USSR and a good Communist, my wife was never allowed to set foot beyond the entryway. She had to telephone her sister from the entryway with a guard standing by, and the sister would then meet her in the entryway. Even with LHO's military radar background (such as it was), it seems odd to me (and to my wife and her sister) that he would have been allowed anywhere near there as a recent defector. It seemingly would have made much more sense to put him in a tractor factory or a potato collective. Perhaps it was a test to see if he would become suspiciously inquisitive? Even if there had been no JFK assassination, the entire no-problem defection, marriage to the mysterious Marina ("This was no ordinary Russian girl," as my wife says), and no-problem return to the U.S. was so bizarre and near-inexplicable that it would be enough in itself to tell us LHO was involved in something much larger than himself.

Welcome Lance,

You write very well.

One question: What year did your sister-in-law start working at that factory?

Thanks,

--Tommy

She started two years after Oswald had left (she's 75 now), but her husband was there during the "Oswald era." Her husband is now deceased, but neither of them had any contact with LHO. We go to Minsk every year and I'd love to nose around, but it seems that LHO's time in Minsk has been pretty well documented.