NODULE X7 OSWALD IN MINSK AND THE U2 DUMP: JANUARY ...

intention of going to New Orleans, Louisiana. She stated that he indicated
to her when he left Fort Worth that he planned to resume his employment
with an import-export company at New Orleans...He had engaged in the
import-export employment prior to his entry into the United States Marine
Corps. She stated that he had mentioned something about his desire to
travel and said something about the fact he might go to Cuba. Mrs.
OSWALD stated that shortly after LEE arrived in New Orleans she
received the following letter postmarked at New Orleans 'Dear Mother:
Well I have booked passage on a ship to Europe. I would have had to
sooner or later, and I think it is best that I do it now. Just remember above
all else that my values are very different from Robert's or yours. It is
difficult to tell you how I feel. Just remember this is what I must do. I did
not tell you about my plans because you could hardly expected to
understand. Lee.' Mrs. Oswald stated she was very much shocked and
surprised later to learn that he had gone to Moscow, Russia. She stated
she has no idea how he got there but she does know that he had saved
up about $1,600 from his service in the Marines. She stated that he did
not previously discuss with her any intention to go to Moscow. She stated
he had never shown any proclivities for the ideologies of
Communism. She stated that he had never expressed any sympathy
for Russia or the Communistic system. She stated that he was always
a studious type of individual and that he read books that were considered
'deep.' Mrs. Oswald stated that she would not have been surprised to
learn that LEE had gone to South America or Cuba, but that it had
never entered her mind that he might go to Russia or that he might try
to become a citizen there...She stated she was greatly surprised and
disappointed that he had taken this action. She stated that she has
suffered a great deal of embarrassment as a result of inquiries from
newspaper reporters concerning LEE.
Robert Oswald was also interviewed. He told the FBI that he "had never known LEE
HARVEY OSWALD to have any sympathy for or connection with Communism
before this occurred." On May 25, 190 J. Edgar Hoover sent a copy of this interview to
Richard Helms. The CIA's Records Integration Group routed it to CI/SIG. The CIA
reclassified this document from Confidential to Secret on May 25, 1960. [WCD 692] On
May 25, 1960, CIA's Plans component generated an OSWALD index card that listed
him as a Soviet citizen living in Moscow:
OSWALD, LEE HARVEY
SEX M DOB OCTOBER 18, 1939 074-500 DBF -49478
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA May 25, 1960 P7
CIT USSR
MOSCOW, USSR
Ex-U.S. Marine, who upon his discharge from the Marine Corps.,
September 1959 traveled to USSR to renounce his U.S. Citizenship.