Representative Ford. It also shows it took 15 days to get out of the American Embassy.
Mr. Snyder. You must remember that in my eyes, as the officer on the spot, Mr. Oswald had no claim to prior action from the Embassy among other cases. And although the consular officer attempts to be as impersonal as he can about these things, in matter of fact it is very difficult to be entirely impersonal.
Mr. Oswald had no claim to any unusual attentions of mine, I must say.
I think that the letter from Oswald from the Metropole Hotel to the Embassy took something like 3 days or 4 days.
Representative Ford. What does that mean to you? Does that mean that his correspondence was intercepted?
Mr. Snyder. There was no question about that, Mr. Ford?
Representative Ford. Intercepted by Soviet authorities?
Mr. Snyder. Oh, yes; this has been known for years.
Representative Ford. Common practice?
Mr. Snyder. Oh, yes; every embassy there knows the system, and operates within it. All mail from or to a foreign embassy in Moscow goes to a separate section of the Moscow Post Office, called the international section, and this is the screening office for all mail to and from any embassy.