Commission Exhibit No. 913
NOTE HANDED BY OSWALD TO THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN MOSCOW ON OCT. 31, 1959
At the Embassy, Oswald declared that he wished to renounce his U.S. citizenship,[C6-157] but the consul to whom he spoke, Richard E. Snyder, refused to accept his renunciation at that time, telling him that he would have to return to complete the necessary papers.[C6-158] However, Oswald did give the consul his passport[C6-159] and a handwritten statement requesting that his American citizenship be “revoked” and “affirm[ing] [his] * * * allegiance” to the Soviet Union.[C6-160] (See Commission Exhibit No. 913, [p. 261].) The FBI has confirmed that this statement is in Oswald’s handwriting,[C6-161] and Snyder has testified that the letter’s phrases are consistent with the way Oswald talked and conducted himself.[C6-162] During the approximately 40-minute interview, Oswald also informed Snyder that he had been a radar operator in the Marine Corps, intimating that he might know something of special interest, and that he had informed a Soviet official that he would give the Soviets any information concerning the Marine Corps and radar operation which he possessed.[C6-163] Although Oswald never filed a formal renunciation, in a letter to the Embassy dated November 3, 1959, he again requested that his American citizenship be revoked and protested the refusal to accept his renunciation on October 31.[C6-164] (See Commission Exhibit No. 912, [p. 263].)
While at the Embassy,[C6-165] and in a subsequent interview with an American journalist,[C6-166] Oswald displayed familiarity with Communist ideological arguments, which led those with whom he spoke to speculate that he may have received some instruction from Soviet authorities. Oswald’s familiarity with the law regarding renunciation of citizenship, observed by both Embassy officials,[C6-167] could also be construed as a sign of coaching by Soviet authorities. However, Oswald is known to have been an avid reader[C6-168] and there is evidence that he had read Communist literature without guidance while in the Marine Corps and before that time.[C6-169] After his arrival in Moscow, Oswald most probably had discussions with his Intourist guide and others,[C6-170] but none of the Americans with whom he talked in Moscow felt that his conversations necessarily revealed any type of formal training.[C6-171] The “Historic Diary” indicates that Oswald did not tell his guide that he intended to visit the Embassy because he feared she would disapprove.[C6-172] (See Commission Exhibit No. 24, [p. 264].) Though Oswald gave Snyder the impression “of an intelligent person who spoke in a manner and on a level, which seemed to befit his apparent level of intelligence,”[C6-173] correspondent Priscilla Johnson, who spent about 5 hours talking with him,[C6-174] received a much less favorable impression:
He liked to create the pretense, the impression that he was attracted to abstract discussion and was capable of engaging in it, and was drawn to it. But it was like pricking a balloon. I had the feeling that if you really did engage him on this ground, you very quickly would discover that he didn’t have the capacity for a logical sustained argument about an abstract point on economics or on noneconomic, political matters or any matter, philosophical.[C6-175]
Commission Exhibit No. 912
LETTER MAILED BY OSWALD TO THE AMERICAN EMBASSY IN MOSCOW.
