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

European Transit and Soviet Visa Application in Helsinki

Oswald disembarked at Le Havre on October 8, traveled to England the same day, and arrived on October 9. He told English customs officials in Southampton that he had $700 and planned to stay in the United Kingdom for one week before going to school in Switzerland. On the same day, however, he flew to Helsinki, Finland, where he registered at the Torni Hotel before moving to the Klaus Kurki Hotel. Oswald likely applied for a Soviet visa at the Russian consulate on October 12, his first business day in Helsinki. The visa was issued October 14, valid until October 20, and permitted one trip of no more than six days to the Soviet Union. He also purchased ten Soviet “tourist vouchers” at $30 each, then departed Helsinki by train on October 15, crossed the Finnish-Soviet border at Vainikkala, and arrived in Moscow on October 16.

Moscow Arrival and Defection Announcement

Oswald was met at the Moscow railroad station by an Intourist representative and taken to the Hotel Berlin, where he registered as a student. The same day, he met Rima Shirokova, the Intourist guide assigned to him, with whom he went sightseeing the next day. Almost immediately, Oswald told Rima that he wanted to leave the United States and become a Soviet citizen. She reported his statement to Intourist headquarters, which notified the “Passport and Visa Office” (likely the Visa and Registration Department of the MVD). Rima was instructed to help Oswald prepare a letter to the Supreme Soviet requesting citizenship, which he mailed that same day. Although Rima was reportedly “flabbergasted” by the defection announcement, she agreed to help, and gave Oswald a copy of Dostoevsky’s “The Idiot” for his 20th birthday with an inscription wishing his dreams to come true.