(Testimony of Richard Edward Snyder)
Mr. Snyder.
acceptance, I will request my government to lodge a formal protest regarding this incident."
Signed "Lee Harvey Oswald."
I would assume that the last sentence referred to the Soviet Union.
Mr. Snyder.
Yes, sir.
Senator COOPER. From your examination and interview with Lee Harvey Oswald, your talks with him, does that letter appear to be one which he had the capacity to write in that language and form?
Mr. Snyder.
That is a difficult thing to speculate on, Senator Cooper. I would say this----
Senator COOPER. It is a very good letter.
Mr. Snyder.
At first blush, I would not say that it was beyond his capacity. He did strike me as an intelligent man. He was certainly very articulate. Actually still a boy, I suppose, in a sense---he was 20 at the time I saw him. He was a very articulate person, and quite intelligent. I don't think from what I saw of him that the letter is beyond his capacity to have written.
There is also an element of it which is very much Oswaldish, and that is the last paragraph, the rather strident tones of it. One finds this in his other correspondence with the Embassy, and in the tone which he took when he first spoke with me--extremely strident tone. It is almost comical in a sense, this last paragraph, in its pomposity, its sonorousness. I am quite prepared to believe that the last part at least is Oswald's.
Senator COOPER. One other question.
In your report you noted that he had made statements about the United States, derogatory statements.
Did he ever direct his statements toward any individual in the United States, any official?
Mr. Snyder.
No; I have no recollection that he directed his statements against anyone, Senator Cooper. I think that if he had, I would likely have reported this matter. As a matter of fact, on the general subject of the molding of his attitudes, he was not very communicative.
Mr. Dulles.
Was he technically correct there in his statement--I believe he said that his application was pending before the Supreme Soviet. Is that technically correct?
Mr. Snyder.
That is technically correct; yes, sir.
The Chairman.
You may continue, Mr. Coleman.
Mr. Coleman.
Now, Mr. Snyder, on March 24, 1961, you sent a Foreign Service Despatch to the Department indicating that you had received a second letter from Mr. Oswald on March 20, 1961, ,and you said that the letter was postmarked Minsk, March 5, and Moscow March 17. I would like to show you a Commission document which has been marked as Commission Exhibit No. 940, and ask you whether that is a copy of the Foreign Service Despatch which you sent forth to the Department.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 940 for identification.)
Mr. Dulles.
Could this be very briefly summarized for the record while it is being read?
Mr. Coleman.
In this despatch, he sets forth the letter which Mr. Oswald Sent, which basically said that it would be hard for him to get to the Embassy in Moscow, and why can't they send the papers to Minsk?
Mr. Dulles.
These are the papers about his return?
Mr. Coleman.
Yes, papers that he would have to fill out to see if he was entitled to get his passport back.
Would the witness identify the despatch? Is that the one you sent?
Mr. Snyder.
Yes; it is.
Mr. Coleman.
I take it that the first answer you got from the Department to your despatch of February 28, 1961, which is marked as Commission Exhibit No. 932, indicating the first letter you received from Oswald, and then the second despatch marked Commission Exhibit No. 940, was a State Department instruction dated April 13, 1961, which was marked as Commission Exhibit No. 934.
(The document referred to was marked Commission Exhibit No. 934 for identification.)
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