Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy

Oswald’s Defection and Admission to Soviet Residence

Two months and twenty-two days elapsed from Oswald’s arrival in Moscow until he left for Minsk, and the Commission considered whether he was accepted for residence and sent to Minsk unusually soon because he had been expected or developed an undercover relationship with the Soviet Government. The Commission relied primarily on Oswald’s “Historic Diary” (which likely began in Minsk, not Moscow, based on Marina Oswald’s testimony and supporting evidence), American Embassy records in Moscow, Embassy officials’ testimony, and notes from reporters Aline Mosby and Priscilla Johnson, with the diary’s authenticity verified through handwriting and stylistic analysis showing no indication of other writers. On October 16, 1959, the day he arrived, Oswald told his Intourist guide Rima Shirokova he wished to renounce citizenship; the KGB, which in 1959 had informants among virtually all Intourist guides, undoubtedly investigated him fully. On October 21 he was informed his visa had expired and he would be required to leave within two hours. According to his diary, Oswald attempted suicide when his citizenship application was denied, which would suggest no undercover relationship existed at that time; this is supported by medical records from Botkinskaya Hospital (October 21–28) treating a self-inflicted wrist wound, the autopsy scar consistent with such an attempt, Marina Oswald’s testimony that he became angry when asked about the scar, and witnesses’ observations of his arrogant, untrusting character. He appeared at the American Embassy on October 31 without mentioning his recent hospitalization, providing the first U.S. Government notification of his presence in Russia.