The Anonymous Phone Call to the Tippits of Connecticut

[Paul Jolliffe]

18 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Mrs. Jack Tippit (Christina Tippit) was a sophisticated woman. According to an obituary of her John K. found, she was a ”well-loved bon vivant… a fashion model… TV guest star… [and] started her writing career at the age of 19 while still attending Texas Tech University, seeing her comedic pieces published in /The New Yorker/ and performed on /The Tonight Show/, and going on to develop material for performers including Imogene Coca, George Gobel, Hermione Gingold and Virginia Graham. Over her long career, she authored screenplays, television projects and worked on TV’s /As the World Turns/.

I’ll bet this woman was no slouch taking notes and conducting off-the-cuff interviews. When hearing a name that may have sounded like “Emile Kardos,” or anything similar, she might well have asked, “How do you spell that?” Knowing a little bit more about Mrs. Tippit makes it seem all the more urgent to somehow help John K. find those notes!

Jim,

I agree that any surviving notes from that (those?) call/s may be very interesting. But until/unless they surface, we're left to parse out whatever we can from the FBI memo. 

Jim, what do you make of (Bentley) specifically naming  "Weinstock"? How do you think Louis Weinstock fit into this? 

[John Kowalski]

Post deleted by author.

Edited March 6 by John Kowalski

[John Kowalski]

On 3/5/2024 at 11:36 AM, Paul Jolliffe said:

(Has anyone ever found a NYC address at anytime for Fred Blair? It is entirely plausible that Blair lived at 217 E. 86th with Grace and Emil Gardos, but left no record. He was probably there, but has anyone found any evidence of his presence in NYC?)

Has anyone checked the NYC city directory?

[Geo Kozma]

On 3/4/2024 at 4:36 PM, Jim Hargrove said:

 if he really possessed the book at the time of his arrest, it just adds more credibility to the entire anonymous phone call saga.

You mean Marina just pretended to have found it on his shelf when she sold it quickly before the FBI came to list his books? 

[Geo Kozma]

On 3/4/2024 at 4:36 PM, Paul Jolliffe said:

Geo,

Thank you for responding.

(....) 

Again, we don't know who the little boy was, but the fact that Emil Gardos left him behind in NYC, never to see him again when Gardos left for Hungary in the late 1940's is powerful evidence that the little boy was NOT a blood relative of Gardos. (Or Blair.) And we have zero evidence that Louis Weinstock ever interacted in any meaningful way with that little boy, so Weinstock - who did remain in the USA for years -  almost certainly was NOT a blood relative of the little boy in NYC either. 

 

2. My mom's uncle left all 3 orphaned nieces and nephews in Budapest in 1940 fleeing to the US. (With the help of Eleanor Roosevelt as his in-law (called Karl Mannheim) was a respected scholar for her. My Uncle - my mom's brother left us, his nephews (then  2 ys old - to flee from the  Russians in 1956 and flee to Paris. There were ten thousand Jewish kids rescued from war-torn Europe by British and American brave people - they all had to leave their parents. 

 

I think, dear John (if I may call you that way as fellow researchers generally do in Europe)  you are here projecting an irrealisstic  emotional bond that cannot be sustained during wars and other calamitis  -like the Uncl being a KGB spy and having an obligatory return ticket.   

 

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13. Another possible version. Te Cuban leader did meet his KGB sponsor, called Andras Tompe  (legends claim they were friends) in cca 59-61.

This kGB officer ( a Spanish Civil War fighetr - on the side of Stalinist assassins killing thousands of Trotzkist anarchio-communists - after spending 12 years in Latin America organizing Communist cells (bookshops etc) came home to Hungary, Budapest...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 20 by Geo Kozma
To make it clearer

[Jim Hargrove]

2 hours ago, Geo Kozma said:

You mean Marina just pretended to have found it on his shelf when she sold it quickly before the FBI came to list his books? 

Geo,

Your geneological stuff always confuses me, but I can easily explain about Marina.  Most JFK researchers I know are entirely sympathetic to the horrible position she was in after the Kennedy assassination.  Nevertheless,  many of us have suspicions about her both in her early years in the USSR and here in the U.S.  Whole threads exist discussing her and her credibility.
 

[Jim Hargrove]

5 hours ago, Paul Jolliffe said:

Jim,

I agree that any surviving notes from that (those?) call/s may be very interesting. But until/unless they surface, we're left to parse out whatever we can from the FBI memo. 

Jim, what do you make of (Bentley) specifically naming  "Weinstock"? How do you think Louis Weinstock fit into this? 

Paul,

I’m not sure what to make of the Weinstock reference by the caller, but your question prompted a little internet research.  Not sure how much people here already know, but the best source of info I’ve found so far seems to be here:

New York University Library’s Guide to the Louis Weinstock Papers and Photographs

Weinstock and his wife were both Hungarians!  The bio indicates: “In the 1960s he served as a business manager for The Worker, a newspaper published by the Communist Party of the United States.” This may, however, have occurred after his radicalization following years of imprisonment in the 1950s.  There was no mention of “Workers World” or, of course, “Woman’s World,” but I wouldn’t rule out an earlier association with “Workers World” since, according to the papers held by NYU, from 1930 to 1949 he had some sort of association with “Workers Alliance of America,” which certainly sounds Worker-ish to me.  Perhaps this was already established.

Here are some of the NYU Library document collections covering the period of interest:

Workers Alliance of America, 1930-1949, inclusive
Box: 1, Folder: 32 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Local Union 848, (Weinstock's Home Local), 1940-1949, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 18 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Expulsion from the Painters' Union, 1945-1950 , 1967, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 23 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Lemkin v Weinstock, Rarback v Weinstock, 1945-1946, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 22 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

It’s probably a mistake to parse too finely the third-hand (or worse) account in the FBI report, but to me it sounds as if the Weinstock reference was somewhat disconnected from the “Emile Kardos” and brother-in-law statements.  Can we thank the FBI for telling us that the caller “said something about Weinstock,” and nothing more specific than “Woman’s World?”  My bet is Weinstock, with substantial union organizing efforts in NYC for decades, was probably the best known of the Hungarian leftist/commies discussed here.

And a question for you about Elizabeth Bentley.  Does it strike you as normal for someone to go from a dedicated Commie to a dedicated Commie fighter?  Would she more likely have been an intel asset all along?

[Sandy Larsen]

7 hours ago, Geo Kozma said:

... some Oswalds are from the 1700s or 1800 years.

 

Hi Geo,

I just want to make sure you understand something:

Lee Harvey Oswald is NOT the name of the young Hungarian orphan. So your research on the Oswald name is NOT relevant to our discussion of the boy.

We don't know what the real name of that orphan was. But we do know that it wasn't Oswald.

Lee Harvey Oswald was the name of a different boy... an American boy who was born in New Orleans in 1939.

The CIA created a project some time in the 1940s, called the Oswald Project, where they gave the name Lee Harvey Oswald to the orphan boy. So then there were two boys with the same name. The purpose of this project was to make it look like the orphan boy was born in America, not Hungary. That way the boy could become a spy when he got older, and could spy on Russia. The reason he was chosen for this project is because he could speak the Russian language.

 

[Paul Jolliffe]

17 hours ago, Jim Hargrove said:

Paul,

I’m not sure what to make of the Weinstock reference by the caller, but your question prompted a little internet research.  Not sure how much people here already know, but the best source of info I’ve found so far seems to be here:

New York University Library’s Guide to the Louis Weinstock Papers and Photographs

Weinstock and his wife were both Hungarians!  The bio indicates: “In the 1960s he served as a business manager for The Worker, a newspaper published by the Communist Party of the United States.” This may, however, have occurred after his radicalization following years of imprisonment in the 1950s.  There was no mention of “Workers World” or, of course, “Woman’s World,” but I wouldn’t rule out an earlier association with “Workers World” since, according to the papers held by NYU, from 1930 to 1949 he had some sort of association with “Workers Alliance of America,” which certainly sounds Worker-ish to me.  Perhaps this was already established.

Here are some of the NYU Library document collections covering the period of interest:

Workers Alliance of America, 1930-1949, inclusive
Box: 1, Folder: 32 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Local Union 848, (Weinstock's Home Local), 1940-1949, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 18 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Expulsion from the Painters' Union, 1945-1950 , 1967, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 23 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

Lemkin v Weinstock, Rarback v Weinstock, 1945-1946, inclusive
Box: 2, Folder: 22 (Material Type: Mixed Materials)

It’s probably a mistake to parse too finely the third-hand (or worse) account in the FBI report, but to me it sounds as if the Weinstock reference was somewhat disconnected from the “Emile Kardos” and brother-in-law statements.  Can we thank the FBI for telling us that the caller “said something about Weinstock,” and nothing more specific than “Woman’s World?”  My bet is Weinstock, with substantial union organizing efforts in NYC for decades, was probably the best known of the Hungarian leftist/commies discussed here.

And a question for you about Elizabeth Bentley.  Does it strike you as normal for someone to go from a dedicated Commie to a dedicated Commie fighter?  Would she more likely have been an intel asset all along?

Jim,

Thanks for the info on Louis Weinstock. If someone can get a look at those papers (have they been digitized?) then they would probably give us a clue as to why (Bentley) dropped his name in her call to the Tippit's. 

As to Elizabeth Bentley herself, while I hope to have a much more definitive answer in a few weeks, for now I believe she was exactly what the narrative has said she was: a genuine communist in the 1930's who then turned into an FBI informant in 1945. 

At present, I have no reason to suspect she was an American intelligence asset in the 1930's.

I anticipate elaborating on this in April.

[Jim Hargrove]

5 hours ago, Paul Jolliffe said:

Jim,

Thanks for the info on Louis Weinstock. If someone can get a look at those papers (have they been digitized?) then they would probably give us a clue as to why (Bentley) dropped his name in her call to the Tippit's. 

As to Elizabeth Bentley herself, while I hope to have a much more definitive answer in a few weeks, for now I believe she was exactly what the narrative has said she was: a genuine communist in the 1930's who then turned into an FBI informant in 1945. 

At present, I have no reason to suspect she was an American intelligence asset in the 1930's.

I anticipate elaborating on this in April.

How about formulating a couple of questions we would like to see answered.  Here's a start:

Did Louis Weinstock ever work or associate with Emil Gardos?

Was Weinstock associated with a periodical called "Workers World?" 

Did Weinstock know Elizabeth Bentley?

[Paul Jolliffe]

51 minutes ago, Jim Hargrove said:

How about formulating a couple of questions we would like to see answered.  Here's a start:

Did Louis Weinstock ever work or associate with Emil Gardos?

Was Weinstock associated with a periodical called "Workers World?" 

Did Weinstock know Elizabeth Bentley?

Jim,

According to his obituary in the NYT, Louis Weinstock was the longtime business manager for "The Daily Worker."

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/29/obituaries/louis-weinstock-91-a-top-communist-and-a-union-leader.html 

According to the FBI's "SOLO" files, 

"In conversation with Grace Gardos, a former American who is now residing in Budapest, Hungary, which was held in Prague, Czechoslovakia, during March, 1966, she remarked that no one in Hungary has "any use" for Louis Weinstock. She stated that Weinstock is making himself a real nuisance and is constantly bothering the Hungarian Socialist Workers Party, as well as JANOS KADAR, the party's First Secretary. She also noted that Weinstock has been traveling throughout the socialist countries and . . . former Americans in the countries to which he has been have developed considerable animosity toward him."

https://archive.org/stream/FBI-Operation-Solo/100-HQ-428091-Serial5580-5626_djvu.txt 

I don't know (yet) if Bentley and Weinstock ever met in any context. 

 

[John Kowalski]

8 hours ago, Paul Jolliffe said:

As to Elizabeth Bentley herself, while I hope to have a much more definitive answer in a few weeks, for now I believe she was exactly what the narrative has said she was: a genuine communist in the 1930's who then turned into an FBI informant in 1945. 

Paul:

Are you doing research on Bentley, if yes what sources will you be reviewing?

 

[John Kowalski]

On 3/6/2024 at 3:48 PM, Jim Hargrove said:

Here are some of the NYU Library document collections covering the period of interest:

Jim:

Had a look at the library document,

Series I: Personal, may have information about personal contacts that could mention the Blairs and maybe someone they knew who was taking care of a young boy

Series II: Correspondence, Correspondence, 1932-1947, inclusive, may mention Bentley

Series VII: Photographs, 1920s-1980s, inclusive, one of the boxes has photographs for 1940-1950

[Sandy Larsen]

6 hours ago, Paul Jolliffe said:

According to his obituary in the NYT, Louis Weinstock was the longtime business manager for "The Daily Worker."

https://www.nytimes.com/1994/11/29/obituaries/louis-weinstock-91-a-top-communist-and-a-union-leader.html 

 

"The Daily Worker" at times during its history was called "The Worker." It was "The Worker" when Louis Weinstock became manager of the paper in the early 1960s.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Worker

 

[Sandy Larsen]

Oswald's pseudonym, Alek Hidell, appears to be from Eastern European decent during the 19th or 20th century.

Alek is short for Russian Aleksandr, Polish Aleksander, among other variations of who we know as Alexander the Great.

Hidell appears to be an alternate spelling of the German surname Heidel. People sometimes do change the spelling of their name, for various reasons, when they move to a country that speaks another language.

A hypothesis:

HARVEY Oswald's birth name was Alek Hidell.

Elizabeth Bentley was aware of this name, but thought Emil Gordos was a step father or something of that nature.

As a result of one of his legal battles or deportation, Alek was removed from Gordos's custody. The CIA subsequently placed the boy with the Marguerite imposter.

Not long after the assassination, it became widely reported that HARVEY Oswald had used the pseudonym Alek Hidell. Elizabeth Bentley recognized the name and realized that this was the same guy who, as a boy, had lived with Gardos.

Bentley put two and two together and thought that the Kennedy assassination was part of a communist plot to take over America. So she called the Tippits to get word out about this. She didn't inform the FBI directly for fear of her life. (Nevertheless, she was still killed shortly after that and her death blamed on cancer.)

In his police and FBI interrogations, Oswald repeatedly denied using the Alek Hidell name. This has always struck me as odd because he was pretty honest about everything else. (Some researchers think he lied about a number of things. But IMO he was telling the truth in those instances. For example, he denied ever visiting Mexico City, and I believe that to be the case.)

Anyway, this hypothesis explains why Oswald would be reluctant to own the Alek Hidell name.