"Walking The Razor's Edge: The Dutchman and The Baron"

We thank you for allowing us to join the group forum. Our names are Tommy & Hilde Wilkens we are the author's of "Walking The Razor's Edge: The Dutchman and The Baron". Our book is a close in-depth research and study of Dutch  journalist Willem Oltmans personal  files and his vast archives stored in The Hague The Netherlands. Our book reveals the ten year intimate friendship with George de Mohrenschildt and his connections to Lee Harvey Oswald and the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Many details revealed for the first time ever. "Walking The Razor's Edge: The Dutchman and The Baron" was awarded the Gold Badge by The International Review of Books of Dublin Ireland. Good Reads one of the premier book review sites in America listed a review on our book saying 

"I remember growing up in the late sixties and overhearing the adults speaking about the assassination of John Fitzgerald Kennedy. It seemed to me then, even as a young child, that while some may not be able to recall what happened last week everyone could tell you exactly where they were and what they were doing on that November day in 1963. Whether at the horrific scene, in huddled groups watching from home and businesses or on foreign soil one undeniable fact remains - This was the the real "Shot Heard Round The World." This book, Walking The Razor's Edge, and it's superbly researched account of the journalistic investigation into the death of JFK uncovers a host of conspiracies spanning the globe that leaves with it the heavy weight to decide for ourselves the conclusions. I spent several hours intently reading this book noting the extreme integrity and professionalism the authors displayed in the execution of bringing to light Willem Oltmans's journey to the truth. If ever a book should be at the top of the Best Sellers List and remain there...it would be this one.
-To The Authors- Excellence from beginning to end. This book will linger in the minds of any who take the time to absorb the profound effect of that day in history".


We would like for all the Reopen The Kennedy Case Forum members to please give our book a read we think you will find it to be extremely fascinating and revealing. We thank you and we look forward to contributing to the Forum. Tommy & Hilde Wilkens

In our 6 year long research for our book "Walking The Razor's Edge: The Dutchman and The Baron" we made four trips to The Hague in The Netherlands to review and study first hand the private files and personal notes and the full archives of Willem Oltmans. What we found was a treasure trove of information concerning George de Mohrenschildt the most mysteries individual attached to the assassination and events leading up to November 22,1963. When our research was finished we came away fully confident that beyond any doubt George de Mohrenschildt had played a pivotal role in the influencing of young Lee Oswald and had indeed maneuvered Oswald into a position of no return. The trap had been set. We bring out many details of how de Mohrenschildt mentored young Lee Oswald. We found one interesting note that Oltmans had recorded saying that George de Mohrenschildt had told him that he had Lee Oswald under his wing and he would do what ever he would ask of him to do without question. We found hundreds of hand written notes telling of what de Mohrenschildt's feelings were concerning the assassination and his inner most thoughts concerning the United States. In another note we found Oltmans  recorded that de Mohrenschildt had told him that he hated and detested  America so greatly that he could care less if the whole damn place were blown up by a hydrogen bomb. In another note we found Oltmans had placed a mark on this note as to point out it's importance. The note told about when George and Jeanne his wife had been brought before the Warren Commission for their deposition. George told Oltmans that during his testimony during  the lunch break he and Allen Dulles had met privately for lunch. Oltmans recorded that George had laughed about it and had said "if people only knew"

Thanks for sharing, Tommy.

Here is the Amazon link.
https://www.amazon.com/Walking-Razors-Edge-Dutchman-Baron/dp/1732739412

We thank you Greg Parker for adding the link to our book. We tried adding it but could not. Thank you very much.

TommyW wrote:We thank you Greg Parker for adding the link to our book. We tried adding it but could not. Thank you very much.

There is a seven day wait time for new members before you can link. This is to discourage spammers.

Hopefully we can get some discussion going on the enigmatic George.

Gary Taylor and the BYP's springs to mind.

In our research and findings from our study of the Oltmans archives we found in detail the true nature of Willem Oltmans and George de Mohrenschildt's relationship. The two men carried on a sexual relationship that was kept private but was recognized by Jeanne de Mohrenschildt George's wife and left her furies.  The Oltmans notes spoke of the ongoing relationship and how the two men would sneak away to a favorite private outdoor spot near the de Mohrenschildt's apartment in Dallas. The spot was a well known meeting spot for sexual activities in that part of Dallas. Oltmans was a well known flaming homosexual in his private life but George was much  more reserved and guarded this private side completely. Oltmans would come to Dallas and stay with the de Mohrenschildt's in the apartments for short visits over a ten year period. The de Mohrenschildt's enjoyed having dinner parties and on many occasions the guests were a strange group. Oltmans  told that there were always homosexual couples and black drag queens from several night clubs in downtown Dallas. One of the guests Oltmans recorded in his notes was a half Chinese woman dressed as a man who bragged she was the best pistol shooter in all of Dallas Texas. At many of these dinner parties as the evening wound down the subject would turn political and serious Oltmans would record.  On one occasion the conversation mentioned the George Wallace attempted assassination. Oltmans recorded that de Mohrenschildt had said it was a good thing that Wallace had been taken out because had he been elected he would have been very dangerous for America. And in a very cold dark sullen look Jeanne de Mohrenschildt says "seems there's no one prepared to shoot Nixon".   Quickly George had replied "that's the remarkable difference  between a soldier who will shoot and kill for a cause or an idea and a killer who is hired and paid. The anti-Castro Cubans were prepared and murdered John Kennedy in Dallas without  ever asking one penny for it".

Hi Tommy and Hilde Wilkens-- I read your book about three months ago with much interest. Thank you for the work you put into producing it. I wonder if I could ask several questions. 

(1) In your book, based upon examination of Oltmans' papers, you say several times such as at p. 175, "These notes [of Oltmans' meticulous note-taking] revealed ... the stunning confession from George de Mohrenschildt that he had in fact guided and instructed Lee Harvey Oswald on how the assassination could be carried out". 

Earlier you mention, p. 150, "But revealing his role in the conspiracy would surely have resulted in his prosecution and imprisonment--a prospect which terrified de Mohrenschildt". 

On p. 109, on Feb 23, 1977, at Bishop College, de Mohrenschildt says to Oltmans, "Willem, I feel responsible for the actions of Lee Harvey Oswald. I directed Lee Oswald and he followed my direction. And because of that direction, I was involved [in] the assassination of President Kennedy."

Yet you do not quote from such notes giving specific details from de Mohrenschildt concerning how exactly he instructed Oswald concerning the assassination of President Kennedy. 

Did de Mohrenschildt tell Oltmans specifics (names, who ordered who to do what, etc.)?

(2) How does de Mohrenschildt's language of personal guilt and culpability and terror of legal consequences square with other places in your book and elsewhere in which de Mohrenschildt is quoted as believing that Oswald was innocent?

(3) In your opinion was de Mohrenschildt in sound mind when he spoke of personal involvement in the JFK assassination conspiracy, or could that be hospitalization- and medication-influenced paranoia speaking?

(4) Do you get the sense from Oltmans' notes that de Mohrenschildt felt guilt in a general sense or was he referring, in sound mind, to specific participation on his part in a JFK assassination conspiracy?

(5) If so, who was de Mohrenschildt reporting to? 

(I am trying to get at--hoping you will address a concern that--: given de Mohrenschildt's hospitalizations and medical issues and possible mental deterioration, combined with conflicting claims expressed by him on the one hand of his own guilt and on the other hand of Oswald's innocence; lack of cited specific details of plot knowledge; and lack of corroborating evidence that de Mohrenschildt was involved in the JFK assassination--whether this may be some form of mental breakdown and/or false confession on the part of a broken man, not of sound mind and not credible. What do you personally think?)

(6) Following de Mohrenschildt's tragic suicide--if that is what it was and not murder, whichever it was--as I recall, Oltmans spoke publicly to the press as well as in testimony to the HSCA, and was reported as saying that de Mohrenschildt had named H.L. Hunt as a key figure in carrying out the assassination. Yet a role of H.L. Hunt in the assassination seems missing altogether in your book telling of Oltmans' notes of de Mohrenschildt's disclosures. Is that omission because, in fact, de Mohrenschildt did not speak to Oltmans of H.L. Hunt as culpable in the assassination (but if so why was Oltmans reported as saying so at the time?), or is the omission of this claim in your book due to other reasons such as legal or publishers' libel considerations?

(7) To your knowledge and memory, did you come across anything in Oltmans' notes that suggests de Mohrenschildt possessed or had knowledge of or conveyed the "Dear Mr. Hunt" letter supposedly handwritten and signed by Oswald dated Nov 8, 1963, prior to that document coming to light in news reports ca. 1977?

( To your knowledge, is the posthumously published story by de Mohrenschildt about Oswald, "I am a Patsy!" true to what de Mohrenschildt wrote (not materially altered or rewritten or censored from what de Mohrenschildt wrote)? Do you know if it was ghostwritten for de Mohrenschildt while he was still living? 

Well, these are one reader's questions. Many thanks for your answers to as many of these as you can.

[ltr]Hello Greg Doudna. First, we would like to thank you for getting our book and hope you found our findings to have been fascinating and revealing.  When we decided we wanted to take a deeper look into the Kennedy assassination we felt the best way to try to get to the real truths behind the event was to take a close examination of the individuals who were the known closest associates and friends of Lee and Marina Oswald. Using that as our framework we moved through a list of individuals and finally came to the name George de Mohrenschildt. It didn’t take us long to begin to see the RED FLAGS flying up from all directions. So, as we slowly dug into Mr. De Mohrenschildt’s past, we found evidence of his close friendship with Dutch journalist Willem Oltmans. We had heard of this journalist before and decided to take a close examination of him and his journalistic work. It was at this point that we decided to take a trip to Den Hagg (The Hague) in The Netherlands and see if we could get access to Oltmans personal files, records, and his well-preserved archives. After several interviews requesting permission with The Oltmans Foundation and the curator of modern-day manuscripts at The Royal Dutch Library in The Hague we were granted full and complete access to Willem Oltmans archives. It was a vast collection of hand written notes photo's letters and his personal files. It was in these files and archives that we found the real truth behind the close intimate friendship between Oltmans and George de Mohrenschildt. It was a gold mine of information concerning de Mohrenschildt’s involvement with Lee Harvey Oswald in the months leading up to the JFK assassination. At one point we stepped back and wondered to one another how was it that all this critical information was buried in these files here in The Netherlands so very far away from the United States. One of our biggest hurdles was that about 75 % of Oltmans notes were written in Dutch. But we met that challenge with ease my wife Hilde speaks fluent Dutch and it was her birth language coming from Belgium. She speaks five languages fluently Dutch, French, German, English, and Flemish. We ended up making 4 separate research trips to The Hague. When we were done, we knew deep down we had a real story to tell that was historically important and people around the world deserved to hear it and that is how our book “Walking The Razor’s Edge: The Dutchman and The Baron” came to be. In Oltmans last days before his death he told one of his closest friends who we interviewed and established a friendship with that his final wish his    final hope was that just maybe someday someone would come along and take a second look at his findings from his investigation into the John F. Kennedy assassination. And we are that someone. We went we took that second look. And in our book, we present our findings for your consideration. [/ltr]
[ltr]I will try to answer your questions to the best of my ability in the order you presented them. [/ltr]
[ltr](1) In your book, based upon examination of Oltmans' papers, you say several times such as at p. 175, "These notes [of Oltmans' meticulous note-taking] revealed ... the stunning confession from George de Mohrenschildt that he had in fact guided and instructed Lee Harvey Oswald on how the assassination could be carried out".  
 
Earlier you mention, p. 150, "But revealing his role in the conspiracy would surely have resulted in his prosecution and imprisonment--a prospect which terrified de Mohrenschildt".  
 
On p. 109, on Feb 23, 1977, at Bishop College, de Mohrenschildt says to Oltmans, "Willem, I feel responsible for the actions of Lee Harvey Oswald. I directed Lee Oswald and he followed my direction. And because of that direction, I was involved [in] the assassination of President Kennedy." 
 
Yet you do not quote from such notes giving specific details from de Mohrenschildt concerning how exactly he instructed Oswald concerning the assassination of President Kennedy.  
 
Did de Mohrenschildt tell Oltmans specifics (names, who ordered who to do what, etc.)? [/ltr]
 
 
[ltr]1)  Oltmans notes revealed the complete terror that de Mohrenschildt felt that he was going to be murdered. He begged Oltmans to help him get out of the United States. The notes went into detail of how George wanted to reveal to the authorities of just what he knew concerning the assassination but he deeply feared being arrested imprisoned put-on trial convicted. The notes describe George as constantly skirting around direct questions. He was a master of deception and denial. George never lived long enough to tell the whole plot. Oltmans was a master journalist who befriended de Mohrenschildt with the hopes of getting the story out of him. He tells how he knew he had to go slow and let George go at his own pace gain confidence in Oltmans before revealing the dark hidden truth. It took Oltmans ten years to get what he ended up with before George was in the end found dead. Just as he had told Oltmans would happen. Oltmans told in one note that we found of a conversation that he had with the de Mohrenschildt’s attorney Pat Russell. Russell told Oltmans before he and George left for the Netherlands to sign the book deal for “I Am  A Patsy” with  Strengholt Publishing Company that if George told all he knows concerning the Kennedy assassination he would go straight to jail. Oltmans went on to write that Russell said” Look this whole assassination thing is really fishy but if he does tell what he knows he will go straight to prison”.  [/ltr]
[ltr]De Mohrenschildt was a seasoned deep covert operative we feel from what all we came away with from our research. He on many occasions mentioned to Oltmans the anti-Castro Cubans as to who really murdered John Kennedy. Oltmans notes revealed this over and over.   [/ltr]
 
[ltr]2)   How does de Mohrenschildt's language of personal guilt and culpability and terror of legal consequences square with other places in your book and elsewhere in which de Mohrenschildt is quoted as believing that Oswald was innocent?  [/ltr]
[ltr]In the end de Mohrenschildt had carried this monster guilt on his shoulders all these years and it finally caught up with him. He wanted to come clean. He wanted to tell the truth. Oltmans recorded that. From our research for this book we came away feeling George had been sent in to maneuver young Lee Oswald into the trap. Into the place that the master minds of this plot needed a patsy. Once Lee was onboard following instructions George is removed from the scene with his move to Haiti and a new mission. Oltmans recorded in his notes that de Mohrenschildt had told him that several weeks before the assassination took place he had slipped back into the United States and checked on the final arrangements for the event and then slipped right back out as if he had never come at all. [/ltr]
[ltr]On the night that Oltmans and de Mohrenschildt left for The Netherlands on a dark lonely highway leading out of Dallas Oltmans told of what it was like in that small Ford Pinto car that night the two men fled Dallas  .Oltmans told how George kept turning around and looking out the back window. Finally in the quite of the car Oltmans asks George if Oswald was involved was, he going to be paid for his part? Oltmans recorded that George had said “Lee never lived long enough to get paid”. Oltmans recorded that George had also said ”it’s a pity and a shame and this poor man’s soul should be freed from this injustice. Lee told the absolute truth he did not kill John Kennedy”. [/ltr]
 
[ltr]3)   In your opinion was de Mohrenschildt in sound mind when he spoke of personal involvement in the JFK assassination conspiracy, or could that be hospitalization- and medication-influenced paranoia speaking? [/ltr]
 
[ltr]We came away feeling George had told the complete truth and after years and years of living with this nightmare hung over him, he finally wanted to come clean.  In Oltmans notes he tells how George is certain that the shock treatments are being given to destroy his memory and to give the appearance that he is crazy. From what all we found he was far from crazy. [/ltr]
 
[ltr]4)  Do you get the sense from Oltmans' notes that de Mohrenschildt felt guilt in a general sense or was he referring, in sound mind, to specific participation on his part in a JFK assassination conspiracy? [/ltr]
 
[ltr]We came away feeling George had real guilt and he knew he had mentored Lee Oswald and had in the end maneuvered him into this tar pit that once he was in he could never get out and that is just what happened. The de Mohrenschildt’s were dangerous people and those that knew the real truth about them were very aware of this. Oltmans told how Bobby Kennedy had warned him to stear clear stay away from the de Mohrenschildt’s and not to investigate them or interview them that they were indeed dangerous people. [/ltr]
 
[ltr]5)  If so, who was de Mohrenschildt reporting to? [/ltr]
[ltr]In one extremely interesting note we located deep within the Oltmans person file was a note that said George had told him that during the Warren Commission hearings that on several occasions during the lunch break that  George and Allen Dulles had slipped away and had private lunch together. And at the end of the note Oltmans recorded that George had openly laughed about this and went on to said “if people only knew”.  [/ltr]
 
[ltr]6)  Following de Mohrenschildt's tragic suicide--if that is what it was and not murder, whichever it was. [/ltr]
 
[ltr]The de Mohrenschildt death is mighty suspicious. We went down to Palm Beach County to see what all we could find out and we were met with a big stone wall at every turn. We were able to locate an employee of the Palm Beach County Coroner's Office who agreed to help us take a behind the scenes look around if they could find out any information on the George de Mohrenschildt death. Several days past and we got contacted by our inside source that they could do no further looking for us and that they had been warned by their superiors that if they continued their search for information concerning George de Mohrenschildt that their job would be in jeopardy. Jim Marrs and Mark Lane both contacted us before their deaths and support us taking a close look into de Mohrenschildt's strange death. There is a lot to this story that really needs to be looked at very closely. [/ltr]
 
[ltr]7)  To your knowledge and memory, did you come across anything in Oltmans' notes that suggests de Mohrenschildt possessed or had knowledge of or conveyed the "Dear Mr. Hunt" letter supposedly handwritten and signed by Oswald dated Nov 8, 1963, prior to that document coming to light in news reports ca. 1977? [/ltr]
 
[ltr]At this point in Oltmans investigation all kinds of strange things were coming  at him and he tells this in his notes. Hunt is mentioned several times but at this point there were so many “RED HERRING'S” being put out we are kind of skeptical of this letter. [/ltr]
 
[ltr] ( To your knowledge, is the posthumously published story by de Mohrenschildt about Oswald, "I am a Patsy!" Tru to what de Mohrenschildt wrote (not materially altered or rewritten or censored from what de Mohrenschildt wrote)? Do you know if it was ghostwritten for de Mohrenschildt while he was still living?   [/ltr]
 
[ltr]We completely feel that the manuscript that was finally released to the public was 100% sanitized cleaned up names people and places removed. Oltmans tells in his notes that George believed that Pat Russell and Jeanne de Mohrenschildt he called his two worst enemies would do anything to stop him from revealing the real truths behind the Kennedy assassination. Willem Oltmans himself helped to rewrite the original manuscript. Oltmans told that the one George had written was so full of grammar errors and so horribly written no publisher would ever except it so he helped George to write it  [/ltr]
 
[ltr]I hope I have answered most of your questions and I thank you for your interest. [/ltr]
[ltr] As I wrote in our book “The truth lies before us. Let none of us fail to set history right out of fear to seek the truth”  Tommy Wilkens [/ltr]

Thank you for your reply Tommy Wilkens--much appreciated. It seems in the end there are not a lot of specifics, not much to go on. A major issue is that de Mohrenschildt's association with Oswald was up until the time of the Walker shooting, causing me to wonder if any guilt de Mohrenschildt felt over his relationship with Oswald better fits and stems from that time frame. According to the conventional narrative de Mohrenschildt never had contact with Oswald or was in Dallas after that time, after leaving for Haiti, so it is difficult to see how de Mohrenschildt could have been involved with either Oswald or the JFK assassination itself. You refer to a claim made by de Mohrenschildt to Oltmans that he, de Mohrenschildt, did return to Dallas shortly before the JFK assassination for a purpose related to the assassination. ("Oldmans recorded in his notes that de Mohrenschildt had told him that several weeks before the assassination took place he had slipped back into the United States and checked on the final arrangements for the event and then slipped right back out as if he had never come at all.") In light of the critical importance of this detail, would it be possible for you to quote what Oltmans' notes say, as exactly as you are able, concerning what de Mohrenschildt said with respect to such a return trip to Dallas shortly prior to the assassination?

I understand the skepticism concerning the "Dear Mr. Hunt" letter, which is believed to have been covertly mailed by Soviet intelligence from Mexico City to several JFK assassination researchers ca. 1976 or 1977, from which it came to public attention and became the subject of an FBI investigation. Are you aware of anything in Oltmans' notes referring to de Mohrenschildt having knowledge or possession of that letter prior to its coming to public attention ca. 1976-1977?  

From what you describe Oltmans saw and helped rewrite de Mohrenschildt's original drafts of "I am a Patsy", which may differ from what has since been published--did you notice any of de Mohrenschildt's own drafts of that manuscript among Oltmans' papers? 

Thanks again for your time to answer these inquiries--

Thanks Greg Doudna. You know what we have found in this case is that people decide what they want to believe and what they do not wish to believe. For our contribution we are not trying to convince anyone to believe what our findings are but to present them and let each individual decide on there own. Greg your a very competent and good contributor here in this Forum. You have read our book and we  appreciate that very much. We do hope you came away with some appreciation from our work? Thanks Tommy Wilkens