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(Testimony of Richard Edward Snyder)
Mr. Snyder.
He was extremely sure of himself. He seemed to know what his mission was. He took charge, in a sense, of the conversation right from the beginning. He told me in effect that he was there to give up his American citizenship. I believe he put his passport on my desk, but I am not sure. I may have asked for it. In general, his attitude was quite arrogant.
Mr. Dulles.
Could I ask one question there? When you say you presume you asked for it, you mean you asked to see it-- you didn't ask to take it from him?
Mr. Snyder.
No, I asked to see it. If he didn't put it on the desk, then I asked for it early in the game one way or the other.
He told me, among other things, that he had come to the Soviet Union to live, that he did not intend to go back to the United States, that this was a well thought out idea on his part. He said, again in effect, "Don't bother wasting my time asking me questions or trying to talk me out of my position."
He said, "I am well aware" either he said, "I am well aware" or "I have been told exactly the kind of thing you will ask me, and I am not interested, so let's get down to business"--words to that effect.
Well, he was a very cocksure young man at that time.
I am not sure that he sat at all throughout the interview, but certainly in the early part of it he did not.
I asked him--I recall asking him to take a seat, and he said, no, he wanted to stand. He may have relented later on.
At any rate, I did nevertheless probe about and elicited a bit of information about him which was in my report to the Department of State.
Mr. Coleman.
Sir, was anyone else present at the time you were talking to Mr. Oswald?
Mr. Snyder.
No; I believe Mr. McVickar was in the next room. But there was no one in the room with us at that time.
Mr. Coleman.
How long did the interview with Mr. Oswald last, approximately?
Mr. Snyder.
Well, I would have to pull it out of the air, really. It would be on the order of magnitude of half an hour. It might have extended to three-quarters of an hour, something of this sort.
Mr. Coleman.
Other than the passport, did he give you any other piece of paper?
Mr. Snyder.
Yes, yes; he did. He gave me a written statement saying something along the line of what I have said he mentioned to me orally. That is, that he had come to the Soviet Union to live, that he desired to renounce his citizenship, that he was going to become a citizen of the Soviet Union, words to that effect.
Mr. Dulles.
We have that written statement, do we not?
Mr. Coleman.
I have marked as Commission Exhibit No. 913 a photostatic copy of a handwritten letter which is signed by Lee H. Oswald, and ask you whether that is a copy of the letter that Oswald gave you on October 31, when he appeared at the Embassy?
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 913 for identification.)
Mr. Snyder.
Yes; I would say it is, sir.
Mr. Coleman.
After he gave you the letter and the passport, did he do anything else?
Mr. Snyder.
No; after his initial statement of purpose and intent, and after giving me this statement, the interview was then pretty much in my hands. He was, I would say, a reluctant interviewee from there on.
He had announced initially his desire not to discuss the matter with me, but simply to get on with the business for which he had come and, therefore, anything else that was to be said was up to me to get said.
Mr. Coleman.
Did you' at that time go through whatever formalities are required for a person to renounce his citizenship?
Mr. Snyder.
No; I did not.
Mr. Coleman.
What does an American citizen have to do at the Embassy to renounce his citizenship?
Mr. Snyder.
Well, the law requires, in general, that an American citizen, to renounce his citizenship, must appear before I am not sure whether the law
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