Oswald's Russian Language Ability (?)

[Benjamin Cole]

1 hour ago, Sandy Larsen said:

 

Don't you mean Erich Titovets?

EDIT: Oh, I see that Ernst is like a nickname or something.

 

"Dr. Ernst Titovets, M.D., Ph.D., born in 1939, since 2005 has been head of the Scientific Research Group, at the National Research and Clinical Center for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Minsk in Belarus. He has authored or co-authored more than 190 scientific papers and 17 patents. ."

Maybe it is an Anglicized name. The Titovets guy is some sort of genius. 

He found LHO highly entertaining and intelligent---as did DeMohrenschildt and several others.

This is a great mystery about LHO, but adds to the view he was an intel asset. He was certainly smart enough. 

[Richard Booth]

6 hours ago, Benjamin Cole said:

A guy named Ernst Titovets, a Russian, wrote a book about his discussions and times with LHO in Russia. Apparently they spent a lot of time together discussing literature and ideology. Titovets even has recordings of LHO. 

Might be worth a look. 

Have not read it but have seen Titovets speak and I heard the recording about the the serial killer and the loaf of bread. Oswald had an amusing sense of humor.

 

[Jonathan Cohen]

On 12/2/2023 at 8:14 AM, Richard Booth said:

What do people here think about Oswald's Russian language abilities, whether or not he spoke Russian or concealed that ability when in Russia, and for that matter how do you think that Oswald and Marina communicated? 

This has been covered at length on the forum previously, without any need for John Armstrong's idiotic doppelganger theory, which is, as usual, destroyed in this specific thread. It is clear that Lee and Marina communicated exclusively in Russian.

Edited December 4, 2023 by Jonathan Cohen

[Richard Booth]

23 minutes ago, Jonathan Cohen said:

This has been covered at length on the forum previously, without any need for John Armstrong's idiotic doppelganger theory, which is, as usual, destroyed in this specific thread. It is clear that Lee and Marina communicated exclusively in Russian.

I didn't say anything about Armstrong's theory. I referred to his research, which are two different things.

As far as I can tell you're just being argumentative so I will ignore you

[Richard Booth]

6 hours ago, Michael Griffith said:

Oswald's DLPT score alone indicates that his Russian during his time in the Marines was decent, and this was before he went to Russia. James Norwood presents statements from a number of Russian speakers who knew Oswald and who said he spoke very good Russian:

Oswald's Russian Language Proficiency (harveyandlee.net)

This is what I believe - that his proficiency was such that he could carry on conversations and also read Russian. That is very impressive for a 20-24 year old self taught person. Very impressive.

I have read the Norwood piece. I think a great deal of Armstrong's research material both on his site and the Baylor archive is incredibly valuable and find myself having to put a disclaimer that this doesn't mean I buy his "two Oswalds and two mothers" theory.

Funny how nuance gets lost on forums when people want to argue--surprised someone has not flamed you for posting the Norwood piece saying "omg that idiotic two Oswald theory"

 

[Richard Booth]

Had Oswald not become caught up in the things he got caught up in, he could probably have had a good career as an interpreter and translator. With additional study, even with dyslexia, he could have refined his ability.

It's interesting that Ruth Paine did not focus on trying to talk to Oswald more. If his Russian was as good as these people say he would be better than Marina to study with because he could explain things to an English speaker better.

He may have been one of these people who was gifted or otherwise skilled at language: had to be, learning Russian at 20-24 years old, self taught: you cannot overstate how impressive that is.

If he had lived into his 30s and 40s he could well have spoken several languages.

[Richard Booth]

Just now, Richard Booth said:

Had Oswald not become caught up in the things he got caught up in, he could probably have had a good career as an interpreter and translator. With additional study, even with dyslexia, he could have refined his ability.

It's interesting that Ruth Paine did not focus on trying to talk to Oswald more. If his Russian was as good as these people say he would be better than Marina to study with because he could explain things to an English speaker better.

He may have been one of these people who was gifted or otherwise skilled at language: had to be, learning Russian at 20-24 years old, self taught: you cannot overstate how impressive that is.

If he had lived into his 30s and 40s he could well have spoken several languages.

I picked up and flipped through "Oswald's Tale" by Mailer and there was a section there where he told someone there he wanted to learn languages. 

Due to the FPCC and USSR defection highly unlikely he could have obtained any government job as a translator but in the private sector--during the Cold War--he could have done pretty well for himself.

[Jonathan Cohen]

1 hour ago, Richard Booth said:

I didn't say anything about Armstrong's theory. I referred to his research, which are two different things.

As far as I can tell you're just being argumentative so I will ignore you

I didn't say you said anything about Armstrong's theory. You asked what people believe regarding Oswald's language proficiency. I linked you to two previous threads here, one of which tries to tie said proficiency to "Harvey and Lee." Happy to ignore you too!

[Richard Booth]

13 minutes ago, Jonathan Cohen said:

argumentative 

Okay

[Michael Griffith]

3 hours ago, Richard Booth said:

This is what I believe - that his proficiency was such that he could carry on conversations and also read Russian. That is very impressive for a 20-24 year old self taught person. Very impressive.

I have read the Norwood piece. I think a great deal of Armstrong's research material both on his site and the Baylor archive is incredibly valuable and find myself having to put a disclaimer that this doesn't mean I buy his "two Oswalds and two mothers" theory.

Funny how nuance gets lost on forums when people want to argue--surprised someone has not flamed you for posting the Norwood piece saying "omg that idiotic two Oswald theory"

Yes, and that is pretty much how I view Armstrong's research and the other material on his website. Much of his stuff is valuable and solid. I do believe that Oswald was being impersonated. I think that's clear. However, I'm not at all sure about Armstrong's two-Oswald theory.

Regarding Oswald's Russian DLPT score, I have the advantage of having taken the DLPT many times in Arabic and Hebrew when I worked in signals intelligence in the military. Anyone who claims that Oswald could have guessed his score is either blowing smoke or doesn't know what they're talking about. 

Edited December 4, 2023 by Michael Griffith

[Leslie Sharp]

On 12/4/2023 at 4:20 PM, Michael Griffith said:

Yes, and that is pretty much how I view Armstrong's research and the other material on his website. Much of his stuff is valuable and solid. I do believe that Oswald was being impersonated. I think that's clear. However, I'm not at all sure about Armstrong's two-Oswald theory.

Regarding Oswald's Russian DLPT score, I have the advantage of having taken the DLPT many times in Arabic and Hebrew when I worked in signals intelligence in the military. Anyone who claims that Oswald could have guessed his score is either blowing smoke or doesn't know what they're talking about. 

@Michael Griffith Have I asked if you’re familial with the name Francis Raven?