Where did LHO learn to speak Russian (with a Polish accent)?

[David Lifton]

This post to the London Education Forum describes a discovery that I made —several years ago— which may hold the answer to an important question:  When (and how) did Oswald learn Russian?

Let’s start with a recap of this interesting historical puzzle.

The Puzzle

The Warren Commission report does not offer a satisfactory answer to this question.  The Report basically implies that somehow —and the stress is on “somehow” —he taught himself Russian by the end of December 1958, at which time he had returned from his overseas tour, where he served at Atsugi Naval Air Station, which was the basis for U-2 flights over the USSR.

True, one can develop —and learn — a basic vocabulary by memorizing some 100 key words that appear in a Russian -English dictionary; but studying a dictionary will not provide fluency —the ability to actually speak the language.  To achieve that, one must have a “dialogue partner” —i.e., language instruction.

However, there is no evidence that Oswald received any language instruction while in Japan. Also, after his return to the U.S. (Dec. 1958), and during his time at El Toro Marine Base (which is in Southern California, in the vicinity of Santa Ana), there is no indication that he received any language instruction at Defense Language Institute (“DLI”) —which, by the way, is several hundred miles north, in Monterey, California.  DLI is where people were sent to benefit from various “full immersion” language instruction programs, in language courses of various lengths of time (20 week program, 64 week program, etc.).  Had Oswald attended DLI, that would have provided the answer to the puzzle; but the evidence seems clear that he did not attend DLI.

So the issue of “how” Oswald attained Russian language proficiency persists. I believe I have what may be the answer to the question, but let’s first recap Oswald’s basic chronology.

The Oswald Chronology — The Basics

Oswald defected to the USSR after his exit from the USMC in late August/early Sept., 1959.  After a brief visit with his mother, and brother in Ft. Worth —his hometown— he departed for New Orleans.  He traveled by bus to New Orleans, and purchased a ticket aboard a freighter. (He had told his mother and brother that he would be seeking work on a freighter, bound for Europe). In fact, Oswald went to New Orleans and booked space on a freighter (the Marion Lykes) heading for Le Havre, France.   After arriving there, he took the boat-train from Le Havre to London.  He then made a beeline for Moscow (flying to Helsinki, then traveling by train to Moscow.)

Again here was Oswald’s itinerary: he flew from London to Helsinki, Finland; and then followed a path that led to the Soviet Union, where he arrived (by train) in early October.  He went to the American Embassy, and said he wanted to defect.   He said he was a devout Marxist, that the USSR was a superior society than the U.S.; and that he wanted to spend the rest of his life in the U.S.S.R.  The Americans basically ignored him, but —particularly after he made a shallow cut in his wrist, faking a suicide attempt, and ending up in a hospital —  the Soviets arranged for him to be sent to Minsk (500 miles from Moscow) where he was provided a job in a factory, and a monthly stipend.  Oswald remained there for about 15 months, at which point he indicated he was tired of that experience, and wanted to return to the U.S.  In March 1961, Oswald went to a dance and met Marina (who was quite beautiful —and still is, BTW).  Within a month she was pregnant (which I personally believe was intentional) and that paved the way for Marina to get what is known as a “243(g) waiver” -- see Sylvia Meagher's book, "Oswald and the State Dept." for details; which then paved the way for the couple’s  expeditious return to the U.S. in mid-June 1962.

So much for the basic “recap.”  In asking the question —when (and how) did Oswald learn Russian? —  it is important to understand the “Oswald time line” and to ignore what happened after LHO had lived in the USSR for some 37 months.  (Obviously his fluency markedly improved after he was in the USSR for over two-and-a half years).  The focus here, in this writing, is not his fluency after he lived in the USSR — that is not the issue; rather my focus here is in the last nine months before he left the Marines, i.e., Dec. 1958 - Sept. 1959.

Here’s a brief recap, one purpose being to attempt to pinpoint the time when he may have received covert language instruction. Is there such a period?

The Oswald Chronology

Lee Oswald was born on 10/18/39.  His dream, from the time he was about age 12, was to join the Marines at the earliest possible time,  which he did on his 17th birthday: 10/18/56.   What followed was basic training, specialized training as a radar operator, and then came a tour of duty in the Far East.  Specifically: Atsugi, Japan.  Finally, in December 1958, he returned from Japan, and began his final “U.S.” period: about 10 months at El Toro Marine Base, in Southern California.

The Warren Commission divided his life into four periods, which it labeled as follows:

Youth  (1939 - 10/17/56)

Marine Period  (10/17/56 - 9/11/59)

Russian Period  (Oct 1959 - 6/62)

O-Post Russian  (6/62 - 11/24/63)

Let’s review this “basic chronology” once again.

LHO entered the Marines at the earliest time possible: his 17th birthday.  After basic training, he served overseas (in Japan); and returned to the U.S., and was assigned to El Toro Marine Base (near Santa Ana, in Southern California) in the last week of December 1958.

The question being posed here — “When (and how) did Oswald learn Russian?”— applies to his competence in the Russian language after he returned from his overseas tour in Japan, and returned to El Toro Marine Base in late December 1958.  Oswald would remain at El Toro until he departed the Marines in early September 1959, at which point —after a brief visit with his mother and brother in Ft. Worth —he took a freighter to France, and then—after arriving in Le Havre—proceeded by boat train  to London, and then made a beeline for Russia.

The basic question (once again) is this:  Where (and how) did Oswald learn Russian?  Obviously, after spending 37 months in Russia, it would not be surprising to learn that Oswald had serious competency in Russian (although an interesting factoid is that he spoke it with a detectable Polish accent).  The question I am posing here is not his competence in Russian after he lived in Russia for 37 months.  The question I am posing is this: what was the source of his competence in Russian after his overseas tour in Japan, and before he left for Russia?   Specifically, I ask the reader to focus on this period:  between December 1958 (when he arrived back in the U.S. and was serving at El Toro Marine Base) and the spring (and summer) of 1959.  How did his facility in Russian increase so markedly in this period? 

We know that his Russian fluency bloomed during this period because by June 1959, when he was fixed up on a date with Pan Am stewardess Rosaleen Quinn (who was training in Russian. using the Berlitz method), his language skills far exceeded hers. (See FBI reports, Quinn WC deposition, etc).

Again, the question: what happened at El Toro, in the spring of 1959, that his Russian language skills bloomed?

Was it DLI?

The ordinary answer would be: he must have attended a language course AT DLI (in Monterey, California): unfortunately, the record indicates no such attendance.  Furthermore, there is another reason for rejecting such a hypothesis.  Had Oswald been a student at DLI (in the Spring of 1959), then there surely would have been a significant reaction (in late October/early November 1959) when his well-publicized defection to the USSR occurred.  Think about it: there would have been numerous students (from his class at  DLI) who would have reacted to the LHO defection (in October 1959)  by saying: “Hey, what’s going on here? That guy Oswald, who just defected to the USSR — he was in our class here at DLI!  He’s no Communist! What’s he now doing in Moscow?!”

My conclusion: IMHO, the DLI hypothesis does not work.

However, there must be an answer to this seemingly intractable puzzle, and I believe I know what it is. There’s other information —another hypothesis, if you will —that does provide the answer to LHO’s sudden increase in Russian language competence in the spring of 1959.

Specifically: some years ago, I learned of another way Oswald may have learned Russian — Russian with a distinct Polish accent (which Marina agrees he had) — and it has nothing to do with DLI.

Read on, to "Part 2"

Part 2

DSL Note:  In order to avoiding a situation in which a number of people are subject to a numerous inquiries from various students of this case, I have changed the key names in the account which follows.

Some years ago, I learned that in the Spring of 1959 (and in the vicinity of Santa Ana, California), there was a Polish  woman who worked in the same hospital as the mother of a friend of mine.  For the purpose of this memo, I will call my friend “Joe,” and I will call the woman Amy Balinowski.

My friend’s mother and Amy Balinowski worked in the same convalescant hospital; and (through the son)  that is how I came by the following conclusion(s):

Oswald was very likely tutored in Russian by a Polish woman who worked in the area of Santa Ana, California.  I have changed her first name to “Amy” and her last name to “Balinowski.’

THE DETAILS

Amy Balinowski was originally from Poland, and worked in a hospital in Santa Ana, California.  The mother of a friend of mine —call him Joe —worked in that same hospital, and got to know Amy quite well.  Some years ago, when conversing about the JFK case, my friend shared with me important information which came from conversations with his mother.

The gist of it is simply this: in order to earn extra money, this woman (Amy Balinowski) tutored a number of GI’s and others in Russian.  Of course, because Amy was originally from Poland, her Russian —as she spoke it (and taught it)— would have a Polish accent.

How does this bear on the Oswald situation?

My Own Tentative Conclusion

It is my belief that rather than subscribe to a hypothesis that involves Oswald attending DLI, hundreds of miles away, it is more logical and simpler to believe that when Oswald left the base (which he often did) and traveled to Santa Ana to receive tutoring in Russian, he received such language  instruction from the Polish Russian-speaking woman, Amy Balinowski.

Restating my belief: Oswald was one of the GI’s that the “friend of my friend’s mother”  tutored. If so, this is why (a) Oswald would have been able to learn to speak Russian from someone located near El Toro Marine Base in Santa Ana; and (b) it is also why, if such a person was his teacher, that his Russian would have a Polish accent.

Look at it this way: the Polish accent (in LHO's spoken Russian) is surely an important key (or clue) as to who his "language teacher" must have been.

Recapping:

We know from the existing record that Oswald regularly left the base —and went somewhere.  if the Russian instructor—who had a Polish accent — was located near Santa Ana, he would not have had to travel very far to receive such language instruction.

I have been aware of this situation for several years.  I have another — older —computer which contains the original memos that I wrote on this situation some years go.  When time permits, I will attempt to retrieve the original memos that I wrote, and quote from them directly.

THE END

Appendix A:  Defense Language Institute (from Wikipedia)

The Defense Language Institute (DLI) is a United States Department of Defense (DoD) educational and research institution consisting of two separate entities which provide linguistic and cultural instruction to the Department of Defense, other federal agencies and numerous customers around the world. The Defense Language Institute is responsible for the Defense Language Program, and the bulk of the Defense Language Institute's activities involve educating DoD members in assigned languages, and international personnel in English. Other functions include planning, curriculum development, and research in second-language acquisition.  (END OF DOCUMENT)

Edited September 18, 2022 by David Lifton
Clarity

[Steve Thomas]

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/gregoryp.htm

 

Peter Paul Gregory, a native of Chita, Siberia, told the Warren Commission that “I thought that Lee Oswald spoke [Russian] with a Polish accent, that is why I asked him if he was of Polish descent….It would be rather unusual…for a person who lived in the Soviet Union for 17 months that he would speak so well that a native Russian would not be sure whether he was born in that country or not.”

Steve Thomas

[David Lifton]

57 minutes ago, Steve Thomas said:

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/gregoryp.htm

 

Peter Paul Gregory, a native of Chita, Siberia, told the Warren Commission that “I thought that Lee Oswald spoke [Russian] with a Polish accent, that is why I asked him if he was of Polish descent….It would be rather unusual…for a person who lived in the Soviet Union for 17 months that he would speak so well that a native Russian would not be sure whether he was born in that country or not.”

Steve Thomas

Yes, there's a number of references to LHO's "Polish accent," and they should all be gathered together in one file.  (I think Marina made a remark to that effect, also.  But I am not certain.)    However: the importance of my post is that I have identified the source of the "Polish accent," which is central to solving this linguistic puzzle.  DSL

Edited September 18, 2022 by David Lifton
Clarity.

[Guest]

I had assumed his "accent" was due to the way he usually speaks.

I do not know how he sounded to you guys, but when I hear him speak, his english sounded somewhat distinguished/articulated ?  

When you do that in Russian it give it a more western touch (like Polish sounds more refined...)

Russian tends more to eastern accents (less articulated and a little faster)

 

[Larry Hancock]

The following article might be of interest to those reading this thread, it offers some interesting ideas plus some informaiton

on Marine incentives for language testing:

https://aarclibrary.org/lee-oswald-the-russian-language-by-greg-r-parker-jim-purtell/

 

[Guest]

Interesting.

I was wondering, has one ever asked the Russian emigres (or Marina.... no skip that...) what the difference was

between Mrs. Paine's russian an LHO's russian ?  

[Larry Hancock]

Not sure about Marina but Oswald's friend and language "buddy" in Russia discusses the language and accent issues at some length in his recollections - which I certainly recommend.   That would be Ernst Titovits in Oswald / The Russian Episode

[David Lifton]

1 hour ago, Larry Hancock said:

The following article might be of interest to those reading this thread, it offers some interesting ideas plus some informaiton

on Marine incentives for language testing:

https://aarclibrary.org/lee-oswald-the-russian-language-by-greg-r-parker-jim-purtell/

 

Larry: Surely you realize that "finding the right book" does not address the question (much less answer the question) of Oswald's fluency, in Russian as spoken; i.e., "spoken Russian." Fluency in "spoken" Russian cannot be achieved without a "dialogue partner."  Marina served that purpose, and that certainly helps explain LHO's capability in "spoken Russian." But that's 2 years later;  he didn't meet Marina until March 1961.  So now back to my post: The real puzzle is who functioned as LHO's "dialogue partner" between Dec 1958 and Oct 1959?  That's the issue that I addressed, and I believe the answer is to be found in my discovery of the Russian tutor in the Southern California area, right near El Toro Marine Base. I have had this information for several years, and decided that I should not delay any further in making it public.  (DSL, 9/18/22 - 6:45 AM PD)

Edited September 18, 2022 by David Lifton

[Larry Hancock]

David, I leave the exploration you outlined to you; I was simply posting some contextual material for those interested - I always feel that is valuable. I will comment that Oswald certainly did find a dialog partner in Titovits while in Russia (even before Marina) but of course that is later than the dates you are pursuing.

[David Lifton]

7 hours ago, Larry Hancock said:

Not sure about Marina but Oswald's friend and language "buddy" in Russia discusses the language and accent issues at some length in his recollections - which I certainly recommend.   That would be Ernst Titovits in Oswald / The Russian Episode

Larry: I knew Marina quite well.  Am not sure she was aware of the "Polish accent" issue; but maybe I'm wrong.  I think DeM was aware of it.  But, with the info I have now provided, it should be possible to set aside the totally incorrect notion that DLI --in Monterey, California --was the source of LHO's Polish accent.  (Think about it: on its face, its rather silly; because DLI would never teach Russian that is-- in effect-- "polluted" with a Polish accent!)   The Polish accent provides a critical clue as to the original source of LHO's language instruction.  DSL (9/18/22_ 6:55 AM PDT)

Edited September 18, 2022 by David Lifton

[David Lifton]

14 hours ago, Larry Hancock said:

David, I leave the exploration you outlined to you; I was simply posting some contextual material for those interested - I always feel that is valuable. I will comment that Oswald certainly did find a dialog partner in Titovits while in Russia (even before Marina) but of course that is later than the dates you are pursuing.

 

14 hours ago, Larry Hancock said:

David, I leave the exploration you outlined to you; I was simply posting some contextual material for those interested - I always feel that is valuable. I will comment that Oswald certainly did find a dialog partner in Titovits while in Russia (even before Marina) but of course that is later than the dates you are pursuing.

Agreed. Keep in mind these key dates: Dec 1958 - through the Spring of 1959.  Also, and as I'm sure you recall: Rosaleen Quinn (the Pan Am stewardess  who was learning Russian via the Berlitz method) said that Oswald's fluency was superior to hers!  That cannot be explained by access to a textbook (and the memorization of words).  To achieve "spoken" fluency, Oswald must have had a "dialogue partner"; i.e, he must have had professional language instruction;  and (yet)  the answer to this linguistic puzzle was definitely not DLI.  The record is clear that he did not attend the classes taught at that facility.  In drafting the memo that I posted, I concealed the identity of the two key people--changing their names.  In Final Charade, I'll use the real names.  (And BTW: I'm a bit surprised that the FBI didn't focus on this puzzle in their original investigation. And how about in the many years since?)    However. . . 

However, maybe I'm being "too harsh" on the FBI. Let me explain why I say that.  I've worked on the JFK for decades (focusing mostly on the medical evidence, as developed in Best Evidence.) Yet I wasn't aware of this basic "linguistic puzzle"--much less its full implications -- until about three years ago.  And then, once made aware, and after learning about the language instructor who had a Polish background and lived near El Toro,  it wasn't until the last few days that I realized that it was worth writing up --and sharing with the community of JFK researchers.  The actual drafting of the memo --  followed by revisions, grammatical checks, etc. - - took an additional three hours, (at least).  My main point: this "linguistic puzzle" took more than 50 years to surface, and then be explained --so why should anyone expect that the FBI Field office in Dallas  --which handled the basic "Oswald investigation" -- would focus on this subtle puzzle, much less come up with a solution (or '"resolution".

Edited September 19, 2022 by David Lifton
Clarity.

[David Lifton]

7 hours ago, David Lifton said:

Larry: Surely you realize that "finding the right book" does not address the question (much less answer the question) of Oswald's fluency, in Russian as spoken; i.e., "spoken Russian." Fluency in "spoken" Russian cannot be achieved without a "dialogue partner."  Marina served that purpose, and that certainly helps explain LHO's capability in "spoken Russian." But that's two (2) years later;  he didn't meet Marina until March 1961.  So now back to my post: The real puzzle is who functioned as LHO's "dialogue partner" between Dec 1958 and Oct 1959?  That's the issue that I addressed, and I believe the answer is to be found in my discovery of the Russian tutor in the Southern California area, very close to El Toro Marine Base. I have had this information for several years, and decided that I should not delay any further in making it public.  (DSL, 9/18/22 - 6:45 AM PD)

Larry:  Are you sure that Titovits discussed the business of LHO's "Polish accented Russian" in his book?  My copy --unfortunately -- is in storage.  If you have the page where he delves into this matter, please send me a scan.  Thanks.  DSL

Edited September 18, 2022 by David Lifton

[David Lifton]

1 hour ago, Steve Thomas said:

https://www.jfk-assassination.net/russ/testimony/gregoryp.htm

 

Peter Paul Gregory, a native of Chita, Siberia, told the Warren Commission that “I thought that Lee Oswald spoke [Russian] with a Polish accent, that is why I asked him if he was of Polish descent….It would be rather unusual…for a person who lived in the Soviet Union for 17 months that he would speak so well that a native Russian would not be sure whether he was born in that country or not.”

Steve Thomas

Steve:  The issue is not whether Oswald spoke "so well" that "a native Russian would not be sure" etc.  We agree that Oswald spoke excellent Russian.  The issue is the source of the Polish accent.  IMHO: the explanation -- as I have laid out in the evidence I presented --goes back to the original source of his language instruction: the Russian speaker of Polish descent.    Reading through the thread, I was surprised at how many people tend(ed) to keep beating the dead horse of DLI.  For any number of reasons, that cannot be the explanation. (LHO did not attend DLI, etc.)  BTW:  the source for my original  info is a friend of mine whose mother knew the Polish woman, who  taught Russian --i.e., who taught Russian with a Polish accent.  DSL (9/18/22  7:30 AM PDT)

[Greg Doudna]

David Lifton thank you for this information regarding your find of the Polish-American woman in Santa Ana who tutored GIs in Russian near Santa Ana at a time when Oswald was there. It is convincing to me as a plausible solution that accounts for all the facts. 

In the article of Greg Parker linked to by Larry, Parker makes the point that Oswald's (supposed) lack of proficiency in Russian upon arrival in the Soviet Union was pretense, so as not to let the Soviets know he had proficiency which would raise suspicion that he had prior training. Oswald's having actual proficiency going into the USSR while pretending otherwise would be consistent with Oswald never going to Russian classes to learn the language while there (this noted several times in Titovets' book such as at p. 377). Any real novice to a language in a foreign country motivated to learn the language would be taking classes offered, but Oswald did not. No need to do so because he already knew Russian! (Compare parallel: Marina's lack of taking English instruction in the US even when offered, with both Marina and Lee cooperating on a pretext explanation--supposedly Lee would not let her. Marina's proficiency in English seemed to develop almost overnight following the assassination, most likely because she was already proficient in English coming in to the US, though the only ones who would know that would be Marina and Lee.)

I looked up in Ernst Titovets' book, Oswald: Russian Episode (2010), all the references in the index to Oswald and Russian language. Titovets presents Oswald as not knowing Russian upon arrival, learning after arrival, and makes references to a "foreign accent" in Oswald's Russian which was assumed by him and his friends to be simply because Lee was American.

p. 95, "speaking broken Russian with a heavy American accent..."

p. 110, "The girls immediately caught his foreign accent..."

p. 236, "He spoke Russian with a foreign accent..."

p. 245, "Oswald spoke Russian with a foreign accent..."

p. 249, "Alik [Lee] spoke Russian with a heavy foreign accent..."

However at one point Titovets quotes from Priscilla McMillan's Marina and Lee (1978) which gives a different interpretation of the accent in Russian. It occurs in the context of a romanticized (Titovets considers somewhat fictionalized) account of Marina's first introduction to Lee (quoting McMillan at p. 251 in Titovets):

"... He was wearing a gray suit, a white shirt, and a white tie of some funny foreign material. The tie and his accent told her immediately that he was not a Russian. He must be from Latvia or Estonia"

Titovets adds that according to McMillan, Marina and Lee, "Marina claims that even after having met Alik she still had no idea that he was an American. Her realization came some time later". Titovets quotes differently on that point from an interview of his own with Yuri Merezhinski, the person who introduced Lee to Marina. Yuri said Marina knew Oswald was an American at that introduction because Yuri told Marina who he was.

The argument that Oswald learned Russian from a tutor privately near his Marines base, and against his having attended courses at the language institute in Monterey, makes complete sense. And the accent of the teacher coming through in the accent of the second-language learner is well-known and I have experienced that. When I lived in Denmark most Danes knew English, all ESLs (English as a Second Language). I would occasionally encounter (and find amusing) Danes who spoke English with a thick Irish brogue accent, or an Australian or South African accent, from Danes who had never been to Ireland or Australia or South Africa, which reflected some teacher's accent (as I would confirm in talking with them). 

What David Lifton tells is important in reconstructing Oswald's language picture. It makes complete sense to me. That is where that Polish accent came from in Oswald's Russian, as in the statement of Peter Gregory (Russian translator in Dallas) quoted by Steve Thomas: "I thought that Lee Oswald spoke [Russian] with a Polish accent, that is why I asked him if he was of Polish descent". It had nothing to do with Lee being eastern European. It had to do with Lee's teacher of Russian being eastern European!

And David Lifton may have accidentally stumbled upon the identity of the Polish-American woman who taught Lee Russian, and when it happened.

Edited September 18, 2022 by Greg Doudna

[Larry Hancock]

Thanks for providing the Titovet's accent remarks Greg...