Mr. Snyder. Oh, yes; this sort of question he parried. I won't say he parried them—he simply refused to answer them. The only thing which he did say in the interview was "I am a Marxist." And I recall telling him then in a jocular vein, which evoked no response, that he was going to be a very lonesome man in the Soviet Union.
But I found at that point, and from there on, that for all I could determine he was completely humorless. And this was my impression of him on the other occasions on which I saw him. He was intense and humorless.
Representative Ford. What prompted the breakup of the interview, or the meeting?
Mr. Snyder. Well, the interview finally broke up when I couldn't get any more out of him.
Representative Ford. Was he satisfied or dissatisfied with the result of his conference with you?
Mr. Snyder. I think he was dissatisfied, if anything. I think he had come in there to renounce his citizenship, and had found himself thwarted. It is quite possible, though, this is reading into it things which were not necessarily evident to me at the time. It is quite possible that this was to be his big moment on the stage of history as far as he was concerned. He may have contemplated this for some time, as he said—and thus my refusal at that time to complete his renunciation may have been a hurdle which he had been totally unprepared for.
Representative Ford. Did he demand at any time that this was a right he had to renounce his citizenship, and demand why you would not permit him to proceed?
Mr. Snyder. Well, I cannot really reconstruct our conversations on that line. But I clearly pointed out to him his right. And he did decline, as I recall, to have me read the law to him. He said he was familiar with it, or something, so that I need not read the law to him. So I pointed out, I believe, at that time he had a right, as any citizen has a right to give up his citizenship if he so desires.
That other consideration is that the consul has a certain obligation towards the individual, and also towards his family, to see that a person—or that the consul at least does not aid and encourage an individual, and particularly a 20-year-old individual, to commit an irrevocable act on the spur of the moment or without adequate thought.
But I told him in any event that the consulate was closed that afternoon, that I had no secretary there to prepare the papers, and that if he would come back during normal business hours I would, of course, go through with it.