A SOVIET AGENT? EVIDENCE POINTS TO OSWALD'S TRAINING BY REDS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP75-00149R000600160042-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: February 18, 1999
• Sequence Number: 42
• Publication Date: April 14, 1964
• Content Type: NSPR

CPYRGHT
Sanitized - Approved For Releas
PALO ALTO TILES APR 4 1964
PALO, CALIFORNIA
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.';'..,, JOHN KEPLINGER Smith is convinced usw,-1 la 1 ne porn( is tins: i
;:r.e.?..?.....1 of a 3cric3) ?N
..i':e Harvey Oswald suddenly was not actin); on orders of theimental direction. Foreigners are letters in ;vri:':, :I! wl'ic
found himself in truly strange'Kremlin when he allegedly firednot allowed to join them. There- son dreeped sly, aeti-Soviei hints1
and foreign surroundings. I
. From the shots tha','" killed Kennedy. fore, Oswald either was a mem- and made mention of a desire to
''e giant metropolis of Moscow, In Minsk, Smith says, Sovietiber of a Soviet outfit or, more return home. This represented
he had been hastily removed to:military intelligence had a bi,.11ikely, a special arrangement a sudden and uncharacteristic
the small, bleak city of Minsk in job ahead: "... to obtain ever yiIwas made for him so he could change of heart, Smith believes.
particle of information ? Oswald apparently began
the winter of 1959.from, practice shooting."
He had come a long way sine6(Oswald), not merely on elec..1 Oswald's in t e r r o g at i o n mixing in circles well above the
i..;A day in ..feris - Angeles etwo:tronics and call signs (Oswald dragged on into the spring of station of an alleged sheet metal
months e.--irliCr When his pass-had been a radio iechnic.ian)..0960, Smith estimates. When it 'worker, for he met and began
port application to travel abroad:hut also on Marine rorps pin finally ended, intelligence offi-lcourting Marina Nikolayevna .
was apritoved, c.ediires . . . cials, probably began debatingPrusakova, reportedly the niece
, b-..,(1 made WS war 1.f. :Rus- "An interrogation job el eeve how best to utilize him. i
Pe
t,of a Soviet intelligence colonel.
. l
sia. ee,eking Soviet cidzensnip in oral months .ae(A ;,-,?,i(e nitelli-1 Did Oswald have .agent Filen- ?In February, 1961, Oswald
1 ?:.'f)r'.-61.:ned with his own dis- been aleri and;lad used hislThis was one of the prime clues_I'Moseow. stating he wanted to re_i
wrote the American Embassy in'
. ? , vihere the political way of eence, epecialle I (-),,,,aid hadltial or was he too unstable?
Marine Corps tour to nrepare new. his passni ot t and 1 eturn
1.?
:. eiew'-s. lions confronting them, Smith
...'. arrival in Moscow in i While waiting for a decision
; 11C;M.
--On Anvil 30, 1961, Oswald
. eie course of events since 'himself for this sort of interro- believes.
gation,'' Smith continues. ,,
ee C,(Jober had undergone a ,,It. is Ili ter ly inconceivable.; De made, Oswald apparently: married ,he "ttractive 19-yean-
d change. His hoped-for Citi - old Marina.
that a Soviet intelligence interH grew impatient, a trait that waH
eenship was denied him and he rogation did not Lake pla.ce," he l to take on disastrous n ;hese lat_ter .two. acts ye e:e--
, r?0?1-ipee:Hly significant a' rid c o.m-
,e; moved. to an out adds. - itions a few short years later l .. .
, in, ey contradictory Under So-
As for rnporfs Oswald was giv-iSmith believes. t \net if..?clitions, Smith contends.
Hace.
'' '1 ET A(;11'.NTS en a low-paying (80 1 uble or MI Still hungering for Soviet citi-.!-Ie eenlies the Rir sians would
eie epinion of Edward El- a month') :,-,heri metal worker's' zenship, Oswald managed to': .,,,, i,.,.k in on an Ame.rican
Jon In Minsk, :--;inith is skepticall'.1write a letter to the Marine' '
mith of Palo Alto, a former -i -t.eeecor supposedly intent on
security -intelligence officer He behenee [hp .1 rib was simply; Corps asking that he be dis-!
, i rericrocting with a Russian wife
..
!charged as a reservist so tn!. "T-.e logical nterpretation," i
the Army, State Depart--.n "cover" clutiiig the interroga- .
e !could accept Soviet citizenship.' . :.??ni: and Central Intelligence tion pE.,,riod.' i'.. _ .
Agency, Oswald was at this junc- (The Marines complied with aniiSmith eontinues, "is that by this
RIFLE CV 111
i.tire in the hands unsatisfactory discharge.) time a firm decision had been
.of Soviet mill- ' Continuing with his analysis of i
tary intelligence agents. Oswald's reported stav in It is almost incredible that the ade as to what (Oswald's):
Smith, who has lived in Mos-Minsk, Smith says: ' ' ?letter passed Soviet cen i-risorshipi mission was to be. -
cow and was the first full-time - ''We are told that while in Smith acknowledges, because ill "Furthermore, the intelligence
State Department security of:Minsk' Oswald joined a rifle club could have damaged Oswald's toperators had decided to estab-
ficer of the American Embassy and practiced marksmanship. I"agent potential." lish 'control'- throug?h a Russian
.
there, has traced Oswald's ?flys- Now, there are no rifle clubs in There could have been some wife who would leave hostages
reason for the letter, but it is hound, who was susceptible to
sey from the time he obtained a the Soviet Union. Unless one be- '
passport in Los Anpoles to a hunter's "Sovkhoz'
Smith's assessment that it got: discipline and suitable for train-
untir.longs ' '
the day four year; later when,(for professional hunters), a So- through censorship as the re-i ing,. and who could he weA as
s u 1 t of some inexplicable! Oswild's assistant.-- .p. r-. (;,-. :, oi h-
President John F. Kennedy wa,...vi.pt.eitizen is allowed to prac-
assassinated in Dallas. - itiCe shooting only . within . the "snafu." 1 er things, for conimir..r.l'i.ons,"
'framework of the All-Union Vol- Despite this jolt, Soviet Intel:II-I Smith asserts.
luntary. Society. for Cooperation , gence decided .to take Oswald! In subsequent fee,.
with the Army, Air Force andi into the fold, Smith is mother Oswald re
c o n- 1--
l , e -
Navy?a sort of combination na- vinced. As evidence, be cites the eta.' aid to return holop. i .
finial gui-ird and reserve train- following events:
letter written Fiboa! T.:)cci...7..r.
ling program..
i 1191, Oswald announced
II ? I S
CPYRGHT
nese or-
his farnily would roceo'z
visas in February and be. :.he
-about March. 1962.
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600160042-cetinued
? Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600160042-6
APR 4 1964
CPYRGHT
- It is inte:csting, Smith be-
lieves, that Oswald knew two
months in advance vhen the
exit visas would be granted. He
states "there is no precedent
for the Soviets providing such
advance notice."
ASSIGNMENT
"Indeed, what would be their
purpose?" he asks. "If a visa
?had been promised some time
in December for mid-February,
an assignment was involved
!which Oswald was to complete
before leaving," Smith argues,.
"No, (the assignment) w a s
hardly a matter of sheet metal
world rig. This precise predating
would make much sense, how-
ever, if it was anticipated that
Oswald would be completing a '
course of instruction preparing
for his return to the I tinted
States as an agent."
Smith offers one further bit
of evidence which he behaves
lends credence to the theory
Oswald was trained as a Soviet
agent: .
Jo Jamiary, 1`.162, while still
in Minsk, 0:wald wrote two
more letters. One was to Sen.
John Tower r:t Texas, a' con-
servative Republican, beseech-
ing help for his return home,
and the other was to Secretary ?
of the Navy John Connaily ask-
in reconsideration of his unsat-
islactor).7 discharge from the
Marines.
Says Smith with a touch of
cynicism:
"An A mrrion detector living
in Minsk \valid in deadly peril
contact the U.S. Navy and a
conservative U.S. senator. He
would have, been immediately
accused of attempted espionage .
against. the Soviet. Union.
"Had these letters not been,
lea red beforehand with Soviet
;reurity authorities, he would
lave been promptly arrested!"
Thus, the ground was laid for
)swald's return home.
(Next: the significance of
his marriage)
Sanitized - Approved For Release : CIA-RDP75-00149R000600160042-6