Mr. Snyder. Any place.
Representative Ford. I am more particularly interested in Minsk.
Mr. Snyder. But provincial towns in the Soviet Union are a very large step below the capital, and the capital, believe me, is a fairly good-sized step down from any American populated place.
But the difference between large cities and minor cities, and between minor cities and villages, is a tremendous step backward in time. And to live in Minsk, or any other provincial city in the Soviet Union, is a pretty grim experience to someone who has lived in our society—not necessarily American, but simply in western society. It might be just the same if he lived in Denmark, or some place. I mean to land up in Minsk, working in a grubby little factory is quite a comedown.
Representative Ford. Have you ever been in Minsk?
Mr. Snyder. I spent about an hour walking around Minsk, between trains, one time.
Representative Ford. Is there anything significant about him being sent to Minsk, as far as you are concerned?
Mr. Snyder. No, no; the only pattern that I would discern is that it is in all cases to my knowledge—all cases of which I have had knowledge, the invariable pattern of the Soviets is to send defectors somewhere outside of the capital city—to settle them in some city other than Moscow. There have been some minor exceptions to this.
What is the name—the British defector, and the two foreign office men Burgess and McLean. McLean lives or did live, until his death, just on the outskirts of Moscow.
Mr. Dulles. McLean is still alive.