104-10418-10165 FOREIGN TRAVEL Ceo re oa) nana TO BE OPE OPENED BY_Al BY ADDRESSES ONLY District Field Office “12 March 1964 MEMORANDUM FOR: Headquarters SUBJECT : We : i 1. Reference is made to Headquarters letter of assignment in this case dated  tarch 1964. 2, During the period 20-28 February 1964, while SUBJECT was under the protective custody of Special Agents Stanley C. LACH, . George R. BREWER and. Alfred B. McGARRAGHY, SUPJECT voluntarily ~~ furnished information concerning his background and activities, ~ as well as other information: of operational interest, the substance of which is set forth in the succeeding paragraphs. Tt is te be =. noted that at no time did any of the above-named agents solicit | any of this information or make inquiries of the SURJECT regarding any of the matters discussed by him. SUBJECT spontaneously related these Incidents in casual conversation during leisure periods and vhile enroute with the agents to and from places of entertainment ete. In most cases nevepapers, magazines and TV programs prompted the SUBJECT to make comments relative to these matters. Following Is a suomarization of this information: SPORTS, HOBBIES - (a) On 20 February 1964 SUBJEC? disclosed that he enjoys the Following sports: football, hockey and billiards. (ob) He algo revealed that he has previously been in the, United States while enrcute to Cuba, Venezuela and other Latin American countries. He has at one time or another during his service with the KGB visited and worked on operational projects for the Soviet Union ju practically all of the countries of Europe; however, he has never SEGRE
13-00000 fo, traveled to the Par East, except while handling an egent who was . active against the Japanese. Ne (SUBJECT) stayed in the Kurile Islands which are within sight of Japan. This was in 1949. He said that he was active in the picking up of agents by plane and | ship in this area. FAMILY BACKGROUND (c) In the latter part of the evening on this same date, 20 February 1964,’ the SUBJECT stated that his father was a member of the Communist Central Comnittee, one of the first members of the Communist Party, and that he had great respect for his father. The SUBJECT also indicated that. his father was a shipbuilder and later became one of the first to organize and set up the Russian © Atomic Energy Plant. It was during this latter activity that he (the SUBJECT's father) and three other officials came in contact with radiation, which affected his father's liver and a few years Later at the age of 54 his father died of cancer. The SUBJECT. went on to state thet his father, being a very prominent Communist, : was given treatment for this cancer in a special hospital which is located in the hills outside of the city of Moscow, and during his “"- tenure In this hospital the family resided with his father. They had five room living quarters beside the room in which his father ' was confined. This privilege, he said, is only given to the especially prominent VIPs of the Communist Party, indicating that his father was one of the top men in the Commnist Partye MILITARY ACTIVITY (2) The SUBJECT revealed that in 1919, at the age of 16, he was a Naval Cadet. He was called into the service before graduating from ot what is. our equivalent of a high school. He hed taken part in the 3S fighting In the Black Sea Area where he described hand-to-hand combat with Germans, claimed he was wounded, and because of his bravery he was avarded the Soviet Order Medal and the Order of Stalin. The SUBJECT stated this was unusual for a person of his age and gained him great respect. At the end of the war he had no more desire for military life although his superiors tried to keep him in the military. Instead, he vent for four years to the Institute of Foreign Relations and learned the English language. Upon graduation, a man cane to him and told him that he had a job lined up for him. He stated that this actually was moxe like being ordered to take this particular job which turned out.
13-00000 7Feoe 622: CE SD/1 to be with the Naval Intelligences He claimed that there vere tvo military intelligence organizations at the time ? ‘the Naval and the Ground Force military type. LEE OSWALD IN RUSSIA - {e) On 23 February 1964, as SUBJECT approached the table for the evening meal, he noted that the Time magazine lying on the coffee table in the living room had a picture of Marie OSWALD. As he sat dow he hit the table with his fist and said, "I feel that I could have stopped OSWALD". At this point Special Agent Stanley C. LACH asked him "how?". He proceeded to state that he (SUBJECT) was head of the KGB Tourist and Visitors Section which kept control over the activities of OSWALD while he vas in the Soviet Union. .He eaid at: the time, OSWALD was of no special concern or interest to the KCB because he lacked intelligence background. Therefore, when he applied _for permission to leave Russia, they (KGB) under his (SUBJECT) direction . informed CSWALD that he vould have to make his application through the appropriate channels of the State Department, who In urn would request - his release from the Russian counterparts in handling of visas. This... he said was all done for propaganda and show purposes. He went on to state that if they really wanted to release OSWALD, it could have been done cn the spur of the nioment, but since OSWALD had nothing and was not worth anything, they decided that this was an opportunity to show the American State Department that they did not mind releasing individ- uals if they applied for release through the appropriate channels. Prior to this application for release of OSWALD, the SUBJECT stated that since he vas of no particular intercst to them and there was. nothing in Moscow that they could use him for or placé him into, they decided that they would send OSWALD to Minsk where he would be placed. in a factory working on radios in the hope that some training in the electrical and. electronic field might result in his development into an electronics enginecr; however, he shoved no capability in this field. fae BURBS JECT then stated that it was just at this period, before sending OSWALD to itinsk, that a very strange thing happened. SVALD wag. supposed to have 8 meeting with a travel “agent in regard to preparations for his going to Minsk at h o'clock in the afternoon. At 6 o'clock he still did not report to the travel agent, so the travel agent cecided to go to the hotel where OSWALD was staying to see if he ‘could Locate him. When he got to the hotel he asked the clerk if OSWALD SEGRET ~3-
13-00000 was in his room, the clerk nodded affirmatively, and the travel agent proceeded to OSWALD's room. He tried the door, but the door vas locted. He knocked, got no response, and then with the assistance of the clerk they broke into the room and found OSWALD lying across the bed with both of his wrists slashed. The travel agent and the clerk responded immediately by taking OSWALD to the near-by medical facility where he was given blood transfusions and after ea period of time regained his strength. During the: naea en the following day the SUBJECT stated that the doctor indicated het had OSWALD not been found for approximately ten more minutes, he would have been dead. It is here that the SUBJECT again pounded the table and said if the travel agent had not broken into the room, but had instead contacted the KGB office like they are instructed to when they do not get any response from people with whom they have appointments, that he (SUBJECT) would have most likely directed the travel agent to forget about him, and on the following day or later that evening he vould have sent one of the KGB agents to check on OSWALD, at which time he would have been found dead. This, he went on to state, is what hurts hin when he realizes that he could have been instrumental in disposing of a! OSWALD without any special inquiry or serious investigation, OSWALD ue being nothing, and at the same time today the President of the United States, President KEMTEDY, would be alive. e SUBJECT then went on® = * to state that after CSWALD was sent to Minsk it was there that he met) — 7 Marie. Like himself (OSWALD), Harie was a girl from a peasant family .t with no special background and somewhat illiterate. It was because of her poor background that she was given permission to marry OSWAL and return to the United States as his wife. { oan i : ' ! t t. ' at 1 1 The SUBJECT then went on to deseribe what took place on the day t Prasident KENNEDY was assassinated. He said that this was actually on Saturday in Moscow, the 2énd of November. He was home at the tine ond happened to have the radio on, when he heard that the President of oe the United States had been assassinated. Approximately one hour later, the radio informed hin that the assassin was Lee OSWALD. This announcement, he sald, really stunned hin. e@ grabbed his coat and dashed to his office. Tmacdiately upon his arrival he searched for the OSWALD file. When he found the file he reviewed it and found that OSWALD had not been used or even approached for use by the Russian Intelligence. He pub ina long distance call to the Chief of the KGB Section in Minsk and inquired whether they had used, trained or prepared OSWALD in any way for intelll- gence activity. The Chief informed him that according to what he could recall, they had not made any use of OSWALD. Just about this time, he (suBTECT) slated that his superior walked into the office and directed SECRET oo
13-00000 7 SHEL . the ‘SUBJECT to get. all the information available on’ OSWALD and_ ‘prepare _@ summary to be furnished the top officials of the Commnist. Party.” ae “The SUBJECT then directed the KGB Agent in Minsk to likewise prepare | cand within one hour they vere preparing a detailed report. on OSHALD*s ma activity In Russia. This, concluded the SUBJECT, is the story of 2-0)... = , Ost TALD in Russia. a ee . Party until he was 27 years old, end he did this out of re eet to his | a . .father, who at the time was on his death bed and asked ‘in ¢ - whether he would do him one more favor before he died. That is how . DIPLOMATS AND INTELLIGENCE TYPES . a summary of his file on OSWALD and ‘informed him that within. ‘twenty - ninutes a KGB agent would arrive by special military plane to pick up the summary for return to Moscow. He said this was accomplished, (f) The SUBJECT aise do indicated that-he aia not’ ‘Jotn. the Commmnist - SUBJECT) | the SUBJECT stated he joined the Communist Party. (Otherwise, « he > probably” vould not have been a meniber to this day.” . (g) The SUBJECT stated that the KGB are able to aigferentiate - between Americans who are assigned to Moscow and are actually. the. | State Department type, from those who have an intelligence background, . by the fact that the intelli gence type of people do not siasociate with the Russian girls, that is they will not go out with them alone, whereas. oo — the State Department type.will. Also, over. a period of a month or two, they invariably are able to find evidence that the intelligence types -. - have been masturbating. This is usually detected through close | exam= . dination of the individual" 8° towels and bed sheets. 7 . RUSSIAN U-1 AIRCRAFT (nh) On 25 February 1964 during the event ing meal, a discussion vas had regarding the recent airplane crashes noted in the newspapers and on TV in the United States. The SUBJECT commented that he has a lot: of 9. friends who are test pilots and who are now engaged in testing what he referred to as a U-1 type of aircraft that is faster than any other — aircraft in the world. He added that these friends are highly paid but they have very dangerous Jobs. ~ SECRET ~5-
13-00000 i When ve eee ee ne SECRET cS #262 G22 C SD/L SUBJECT'S FATHER © (4) The SUBJECT also made reference to his father during this meal, describing him as a very tall and extremely well-built individual, and one who was extremely intelligent and a self-made, self-educated man. He learned the shipbuilding trade mostly through his own research and study, and also from. the SUBJECT's grandfather, who was one of the first shipbuilders in Russia. The SUBJECT added that his grandfather died at the age of 94. He also stated that after the death of his father, a memorial was built in his memory since he was considered a very capable director of the government shipping industry. That . was about the last time he saw his mother and brother and sister, as they all went to this ceremony in honor of his father. He also indicated that there was a periodical which gave a complete run-down on his family background, including that of his grandfather and his father, and it vas well publicized; end this he believes had a lot to do with his being eble to get some special preference and move along as fast as he did in the KGB orgonization.. “KGB PRESSURE ON FAMILY (3) On 27 February 196) during lunch, the SUBJECT stated that he has been informed that the KGB is putting pressure on his immediate . family, particularly his mother. However, he said he was not overly worried about her because she is well-off financially, and being up in age there is not mich they can do to her. However, what concerns hin most is the fact that they have already started to play on the sympathies of his two children and his wife. The SUBJECT stated that he was anticipating this; hovever, he did not think that they would. start so soon to pressure the family. However, he does have some hope “that in due time he may be able to get his family, out of Russia. This hope’ he said was given to him by the Chief of SR Division. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS PENETRATION (xk) On 25 February 1964 during a sightseeing tour of Washington by vehicle, as we passed the Library of Congress, the SUBJECT pointed to the building and stated that “we have people working in there", Special Agent Stanley C. LACH said, “who ts 'we'?" and the SUBJECT answered, "KGB". He continued by stating that this was a good place to place people because they could readily learn by just watching what research was being done in the Library of Congress by the military SEGRE -G-
13-00000 fo62 622 C SD/L Se and thereby get an idea as to what the military was planning in the vey of armaments and things of that nature. The SUBJECT also advised that the responsibility for getting information surreptitiously fron. American Embassies in foreign countries who employ indigenous personnel, falls within the confines of the KGB. He stated that the way they go about this is to work through the indigenous personnel and arrange to - enter the enbassy at special times during the night. They would first make a close survey and a photograph of the area in which the embassy keeps its classified material, then they would subsequently enter this area and open up the safes. ‘hen he was asked how this was done ‘he © stated, "oh, combinations to safes are not hard to acquire". He said that the important and difficult part of this activity is taking the material out and photographing it and then placing it exactly: as te was before they touched it.