HELSINKI
Originator: HSCA
From: CIA
Document date: 1978-12-20 00:00:00
Document type: REPORT

# DOCID-32271642

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JFK Assassination System

Identification Form

Agency Information

Date:

3/23/201

AGENCY:

HSCA

RECORD NUMBER:

180-10142-10338•

RECORD SERIES :

CIA SEGREGATED COLLECTION

AGENCY FILE NUMBER:

24-05-08

Document Information

ORIGINATOR:

HSCA

FROM:

CIA

TO :

TITLE: HELSINKI

Released under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act ol

1992 (44 USC 2107 Note). Case#:NW

56000 Date: 11-04-2021

DATE:

12/20/1978

PAGES:

6

SUBJECTS :

CIA, FILES

HELSINKI

DOCUMENT TYPE: REPORT

CLASSIFICATION: Unclassified

RESTRICTIONS: 1A; 1B

CURRENT STATUS:

Redact

DATE OF LAST REVIEW: 08/09/1995

OSWALD, LEE, RUSSIAN PERIOD, DEFECTION TO RUSSIA

OPENING CRITERIA :

COMMENTS :

Box 14

v9.1

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12/20/78

HELSINKI

Robert S. Anson, author of "They've Killed the

President! The Search for the Murderers of John F. Kennedy,"

offered a critical appraisal of Lee Harvey Oswald's travel

through Western Europe prior to his appearance in Moscow

on October 16, 1959: Anson expressed particular concern

over the issuance of a Soviet tourist visa in Helsinki,

Finland to Oswald prior to his entry into the Soviet Union.

Anson wrote that "/o In Monday, October 12, Oswald went

to the Soviet Consulate and applied for a visa. It was

granted two days later." (Anson, p. 159)/ Anson concluded:

Oswald also managed to secure a Soviet

visa in record time.

The CIA told the

Commission that under ordinary circum-

stances obtaining a visa in Finland

took one or two weeks; Oswald got his

in two days. (Ibia., p. 160)*

* Anson was referring to the Warren Commission Report where it

is stated:

The Department of State has advised the Commission

that it has some information that in 1959 it usually

took an American tourist in Helsinki l to 2 weeks to

obtain a visa, and that it has other information that

the normal waiting period during the past 5 years has

been a week or less.

According to the Department's

information, the waiting period has always varied fre-

quently and

widely, with one confirmed instance in 1963

of a visa routinely issued in less than 24 hours.

The

Central Intelligence Agency has indicated (continued)

2001197

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Thus, the issue has arisen whether Oswald's receipt

of a Soviet visa prior to his entry into the soviet Union

was an "odd happening" as Anson characterized it; circum-

stantial evidence tending to show

that Oswald had received

special assistance in order. to enter the Soviet Union.

During the course of its investigation the Warren Commission

shared Anson's concerns.. In a letter to the CIA dated May

25, 1964 J. Lee Rankin inquired about the apparent speed

with which

Oswald's Soviet visa was issued. Rankin noted

that he had recently spoken with Abraham Chayes of the

that

State Department who contendedat the time Oswald received

his visa to enter Russia from the Soviet Embassy

at Helsinki,

wat least one week ordinarily transpired between the time

of a tourist's application for a visa and the issuance of

* (continued from previous page)

that visas during the 1964 tourist season were being granted

in about 5 to 7 days.

This information from the Department of State and the Central

Intelligence Agency thus suggests that Oswald's wait for a

visa may have been shorter than usual but not beyond the

range of possible variation.

The prompt issuance of Oswald's

visa may have been merely the result of normal procedures,

due in part to the fact that the summer rush had ended.

It might also mean that Oswald was unusually urgent in his

demands that his visa be issued promptly.

Oswald himself

told officials at the American Embassy in Moscow on October

31, when he appeared to renounce his citizenship, that he had

said nothing to the Soviets about defecting until he arrived

in Moscow.

In any event, the Commission has found nothing

in

20the2 Gircumstances of Oswald's entry into the Soviet Union

Classification:

which indicates that he was

at the time an agent for the

U.S.S.R. (WCR, p. 258)-

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the visa.

Rankin contended that if Chayes' assessment

was accurate, then Oswald's obtaining his tourist visa

in from two to four days might have

been very significant.J.Lekunkin

Rankin also stated that from CIA material supplied

125,

2076

to the Warren Commission, the Commission had concluded

that Oswald arrived

in Helsinki by plane from London on

Saturday, October 10, 1959, and

that Oswald had received

his Soviet tourist visa on Wednesday, October 14, 1959,

departing by train for the Soviet Union on October 15. * SIbidI

Rankin noted that the Commission was interested in

Soviet

learning whether Oswald did in fact obtain his tourist

visa more quickly than was normal at that time. for the

saviot imbassy in

Helsinki. (We letter by J. Lee Rankin to

Richard Helms, DDP4-2676, 25 May 1964)

The CIA responded to Rankin's request for information anout

Provisio

soviet list

on July 31, 19645

Proce

Richard Helms wrote to Rankin that the Soviet Consu-

late in Helsinki was able to issue a transit visa (valid for

24 hours) to U.S. businessmen within five minutes but if a

longer stay were intended at least one week. was

needed. to

process a visa application and arrange lodging through

* Assuming Oswald arrived in Helsinki on October 10, under normal

conditions the earliest he would have been able to apply for

a Soviet tourist visa would have been the first working day

ater October 12, i.e. October 12.

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BoreT

letter

INTOURIST.V(Richard Helms to J. Lee Rankin; DDP4-3916, 31

July 1964) A second communication from Helms to Rankin

dated September 14, 1964 added that during the 1964 tourist

season, Soviet Consulates

in at least some Western European

cities issued Soviet tourist visas in from five to seven

lette

days. (Letter of Richard Helms to J. Lee Rankin, DDP4-4775,

14 September 1964)

In an effort to resolve this issue, the Committee

has reviewed a

• filep maintained by the CIA which

sheds further light on the circumstances surrounding issuance

of Oswald's Soviet tourist visa. The CIA file concerns

Gregorly Golub, Soviet Consul in Helsinki at the time Oswald

was issued his tourist visa. (CIA DOCS. 6FHA-3939, 2 July

1959, OCOA-3745, 21 April 1959, OFHA-4132, 9. October 59)

Golub's file reveals that in addition to his Consular acti-

suspected of

1521:0

vities, he was believed to be- an officer of the Soviet KGB.

:(OCOW-2907, 26 June 1959, OFHW-2937, 21 September 1959)

Two CIA dispatches from Helsinki concerning Golub

are of particular significance with regard to the time neces-

sary for issuance of visas to Americans for travel into the

Soviet Union.

The first dispatch records that

Golub disclosed dur-

ing a luncheon conversation that:

20.18.2

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"Moscow had given him the authority to

give Americans visas without prior appro-

val from Moscow.

He (Golub) stated that

this would make his job much easier, and

as long as he was convinced the American

was

"all right" he could give him a visa

in a matter of minutes...."*

(OFHA-396 22act July 1959)

emprasis

The second CIA Dispatch dated October 9, 1959, one

day prior to Oswald's arrival in Helsinki, illustrates

that Golub did have the authority to issue visas without

delay. The Dispatch discusses telephone contact between

Golub and his Consular

counterpart at the American Embassy

in Helsinki.

In part the Dispatch discloses:

...Since that evening (September 4, 1959)

Golub has only phoned

(the US consul) once

and this was on a business matter.

Two

Americans were in the Soviet Consulate at

the time and were applying for Soviet visas

thru (sic.) Golub. They had previously

been in

the American consulate inquiring

about the possibility of obtaining a Soviet

visa in one or two days. (The U.S. Consul)

advised them to go directly to Golub and

make their request, which they did. Golub

phoned (the U.S. Consul) to state that he

would give them their visas as soon as they

made advance Intourist reservations.

When

they did this, Golub immediately save then

their visas..

" (OFHA-4132, 9 Oct. 1959) **

emplaris dident

* The Dispatch does not define the meaning given by Golub

to the term "all right."

** Evidently, Oswald had made arrangements with Intourist because

upon his arrival at

Moscow railroad station on October 16, he

was met by an Intourist representative and taken to the Hotel

Classification:

Berlin where he registered

as a student. (WC p. 691)

20.12/3

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Thus, based upon these additional two factors: ()

Golub's authority to issue visas to Americans without prior

this

approval from Moscow, and 2) a demonstration of the authority, as

reported in a cia dispatch,

approximately one month prior to Oswald's appearance at

the Soviet Embassy, the Committee has found that the available

evidence tends to support the conclusion that^Oswald's

tourist visa within two to four days after his appearance

at the Soviet Consulate, were somewhat suspect, does not

warrant the belief that Oswald's travel into the Soviet

Union was assisted by others, particularly the Soviets.

However, the possibility of assistance cannot be dismissed

due to Golub's probable connection with the KGB and the

necessary

lack of other substantive information available to definitely

confirm that Oswald's visa was handled in a manner similar

to that of the two American students who had entered the

Soviet Union with Golub's assistance via Finland.

20.12 Classification:

.: Classified by derivation: .

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