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

Oswald’s Transfer to Minsk

The text describes Oswald’s transfer from Moscow to Minsk as a direct outcome of his receipt of the stateless identity document and the Soviet decision to send him to an industrial city roughly 450 miles southwest of the capital, with a population in 1959 of about 510,000. While he was disappointed not to have been granted Soviet citizenship, the ending of uncertainty brought relief, and he expressed happiness to Rima Shirokova. He received 5,000 rubles from the “Red Cross” agency, of which he used 2,200 to settle his hotel account and 150 to buy a rail ticket to Minsk, with the remainder presumably available for his new life there.

Oswald’s Arrival and Welcome in Minsk

Oswald arrived in Minsk on January 7 and was met at the station by two “Red Cross” workers who took him to the Hotel Minsk, where two English-speaking Intourist employees were waiting. One of them, a young woman named Roza Kuznetsova, became a close friend and attended Oswald’s 21st birthday party in October 1960 (Commission Exhibit No. 2609, p. 271). On the following day, Oswald met the “Mayor,” who welcomed him to Minsk, promised him a rent-free apartment, and warned him against “uncultured persons” who sometimes insulted foreigners.

Oswald’s Employment at Belorussian Radio and Television Factory

On January 13, Oswald reported for work at the Belorussian Radio and Television Factory, a major producer of electronic parts and systems employing about 5,000 persons. Two days earlier he had visited the factory and met Alexander Ziger, a Polish Jew who had emigrated to Argentina in 1938 and then to Russia in 1955; Ziger, a department head, spoke English and he and his family became good friends of Oswald, corresponding with him after his return to the United States. Oswald’s union card described him as a “metal worker,” and Marina testified that he fashioned parts on a lathe. In Oswald’s later account, the “experimental shop” in which he worked employed 58 workers and 5 foremen, was housed in a two-story red-brick building in the middle of the factory area, began the workday at 8 o’clock sharp, and assigned work by numbered “pay levels” from one to five with a top “master” level, with workers permitted to request testing for promotion at any time.