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parade route six wecKs later has given rise to
much speculation; but it may have been an acci-
dent of fate. The public did not know that the
presidential parade would pass the corner of
Elm and Houston until November 16, 1963. An
exact map of the route was published on Novem-
ber 21, the day before the visit.
R. S. Truly, superintendent of the book de-
pository firm, later said of Oswald:
"He was a pretty quiet individual. His work
was fine and I had no reason to believe ... no
idea the man had ever been in Russia."
There have been persistent reports that the
FBI knew all about Lee Harvey Oswald's back-
ground, knew where his wife resided in Irving,
and knew where he worked in Dallas. In this
regard, the only thing which the public knows as
a certainty is that the Dallas police did not know
of communist Oswald's employment in a build-
ing on the presidential parade route — or even
of his presence in Dallas. According to reports,
the police did have, however, a list of persons
branded as "extreme rightists," who were to be
kept under surveillance during the President's
visit.
After Oswald's arrest, police and sheriff's
deputies found among his effects five or six metal
files containing notes and correspondence. They
also found $150.00, although Oswald earned only
$1.25 an hour at the book depository. The Os-
wald files were all given to the FBI, and the pub-
lic does not know what they contained. Police
surmise, however, that they contained a wealth of
information about the man's communist activities
— and possibly about his contacts, and the source
of his money.
Assistant District Attorney William F. Alex-
ander has revealed that some of the correspond-
ence found in Oswald's effects consisted of let-
ters from leaders of the communist party of the
United States, thanking Oswald for his activities.
Other letters were from the Fair Play For Cuba
Committee, thanking Oswald for past services,
giving him suggestions about organizing chapters
of that organization.
During the 48-hour period between Oswald's
arrest on November 22 and his murder on Novem-
ber 24, he not only admitted, but arrogantly
boasted to police, that he was a "marxist."
The Haters
Most of the information about Oswald's
communist activities (summarized above) was
publicized within a few hours after his arrest;
but this did not seem to matter to liberals and
self-styled "moderates" (in Dallas and else-
where), who, for many days, poured out an in-
credible volume of hate, not against communists,
but against constitutional conservatives — call-
ing them "right-wing extremists," "bigots,"
"right-wing fanatics."
Immediately after the President's assassination,
the Voice of America (U.S. Government over-
seas broadcasting agency) notified the world that
the President had been killed in Dallas, "center
of the extreme right-wing movement." This of-
ficial broadcast of the U.S. Government was taken
overseas, of course, to mean that American anti-
communist conservatives are anarchists and as-
sassins, that Dallas is a hotbed of such people, and
that the U.S. Government presumed them guilty
of murdering the President.
(8)
As soon as Oswald was arrested and identified,
VOA deleted, from its overseas broadcast, ref-
erence to right-wing extremists in Dallas, but
was careful not to mention that the arrested as-
sassin was an admitted communist. It was ap-
proximately 12 hours after Oswald's arrest be-
fore VOA told the world that the man was a
"marxist."(8)
When asked to explain, Mr. Henry Loomis,
Director of Voice of America, defended the
original branding of Dallas as a "center of the
extreme right-wing movement" by saying:
"It was a fact. Tass [Soviet news agency] knew
this beforehand .... Things were running in
circles."(s)
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