Memo & Attachment
Originator: CIA
From: Dep. Dir. Plans
To: ACOS, Intel
Document date: 10/19/1963
Document type: Paper

## Page 1

Date

Page

:

01/21/98

1

JFK ASSASSINATION SYSTEM

IDENTIFICATION FORM

AGENCY INFORMATION

AGENCY

: INSCOM/CSF

RECORD

• NUMBER: 194-10010-10424

RECORDS SERIES

: DOD-AFFILIATED PERSONNEL AND INCIDENT INVESTIGATIONS

AGENCY FILE NUMBER

: XE327040WJE - PAGES 349 - 355

DOCUMENT INFORMATION

ORIGINATOR : CIA

FROM

: DEPUTY DIRECTOR (PLANS)

TO : ASST CHIEF OF STAFF, INTELLIGENCE

TITLE : MEMORANDUM (ATTACHMENT)

DATE : 10/19/63

PAGES : 7

SUBJECTS : SLOBODA, VLADIMIR O

SLOBODA, LILLIAN

***

***

***

INTERVIEW

*W*

*

*

DOCUMENT TYPE : PAPER, TEXTUAL DOCUMENT

CLASSIFICATION : SECRET

RESTRICTIONS : 1B

CURRENT STATUS : POSTPONED IN FULL

* I

DATE OF LAST REVIEW : 03/20/95

*R*

OPENING CRITERIA : COMPLETION OF REVIEW BY CIA FOR RELEASE

*A+

COMMENTS : COORDINATION WITH CIA HAS BEEN COMPLETED AND IS

*W*

DETERMINED TO BE DENIED IN FULL, PER MEMO DTD 15 DEEA*

95.

PAGES (349-355) IS ATTACHMENT TO PAGE 348

(RECORD #

194-10001-10395).

Heleased under the John F. Kennedy

Assassination Records Collection Act of

H 992 (44 USC 2107 Note). Case#:NW

64954 Date: 09.22-2022

*

*

*A*

*R*

* ID*

*

*

* * *

***

***

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 1

---

## Page 2

CRET

NO FOREIGN DISSER

Attachment to: CSCI-3/778,353

1. Mrs. Lilian SLOBODA was interviewed in Halifax on' 19 March

1963, by a member of the British Security Service.

2. Mrs. SLOBODA gives the impression of being a rather quiet,

nervous and not very intelligent north country woman, ill-equipped to

grapple with the upheaval of the past two years. At the outset I told

her that I was not a police officer but a member of the war Office in

London concerned with security matters and in this connection there were

a few questions I wished to ask her. However, she was under no obliga-

tion to answer any questions or indeed to be interviewed at all, but

should she agree to answer my questions then she should bear in mind that

the contents of our interview must not be discussed with anyone else at

any time. She said that she was quite prepared to be interviewed al-

though she did not think that she had any information of value to us. I

should mention here that at the beginning she was obviously very nervous

and reticent, then for a period she seemed much more self-assured, and

towards the end of the interview, when one or two rather delicate matters

were raised she became somewhat distressed, flushed and uncertain of her-

self.

Before recording what she had to say I feel bound to make the re-

servation that I do not believe she told me the whole truth and that I do

not consider that she is quite so guileless as the impression she gave me

at the beginning of the interview led me to believe.

In brief, she may

not be very intelligent, but she has lots of native cunning.

She supplied the following answers to the questions put by me

on the basis of the questionnaire received from CIA.

A. Under what circumstances was she permitted to return to

England? Does she plan to return to the U.S.S.R.?

Her object in returning to this country from the U.s.S.R. in

March 1962 was to take a holiday which, she said, she felt she

badly needed. It was obvious from what Mrs. SLOBODA had to say

that she had found life in Ivor very difficult, largely because

of her lack of Russian, and the fact that her husband's parents

were living in the same apartment.

After discussing the matter

with her husband she first applied for an exit visa in August 1961

and she admitted that the Russian Intelligence Officer responsible

for her husband's resettlement asked her more than once why she

wished to leave her husband in Russia and return home to England.

The resettlement officer implored her husband to bring pressure

to bear on her on the grounds that her husband was now living in

Russia: and that it was up to her to knuckle down and become

"acclimatised" and stay by his side rather than to return to the

U.K. However, in the end her persistence won the day and after

INCLUDED PROM GENERAT

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE

349

SECRET

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

109-29-64

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 2

---

## Page 3

- 2

CRET

NO FOREIGN DISSERA

depositing her passport with the authorities in Lvov she

received it back again in March 1962 with an exit visa stamped

therein. She wished to take not only her small daughter but

also her second son with her and on arrival in Moscow from Lvov

by Aeroflot she visited the British Embassy to discuss the status

of the son in question, Victor Edwin, born in 1956 in the U.S.A.

Her husband

accompanied her to Moscow and made the arrangements

for her departure; she did not mention any meetings with any U.s.

officials in Moscow.

Before leaving Lvov she was presented with 50 roubles by the

resettlement officer with which to buy a present for her mother

in the U.K. and she was advised to contact the Soviet Embassy in

London regarding arrangements for her return trip to Russia at

the conclusion of her holiday; her passport was validated for ninety

days.

Mrs. SLOBODA, when interviewed on 19th March, said that she

is now desirous of returning to the U.S.S.R.

She indicated that

whilst in this country she had taken stock

of her position and felt

duty bound to return to her children. She considered it unlikely

that the Russians would be prepared to allow all three children to

leave the U.S.SR and thus she felt that the only alternative was

for her to return there. In this connection she had recently re-

ceived a telegram from her husband saying that he was planning to

despatch the eldest child, David, born in the U.K. in 1953, to

Halifax, but she had sent a telegram in reply telling her husband

to abandon this plan as she herself proposed to return to Russia

in the near future.

Mrs. SLOBODA was questioned about her motives

for sending this telegram, seeing that her husband appeared to have

made a decision to return the British born son to this country and

bearing in mind that Mrs. SLOBODA herself had indicated her dis-

pleasure at the fact that this particular son (who was at boarding

school and who now spoke fluent Russian) gave every appearance of

growing away from the family and becoming a Young Communist. She

averred that she was still very much in love with her husband. She

did not seem to envisage any difficulty in obtaining the assistance

of the Soviet Consulate in London to return to the U.S.S.R, and she

expects the Consulate to provide her with the necessary passages

when requested to do so; she added that she had received an assurance

about the availability of free passages from 'Anton'.

EXCLUDED FROM GENERAL

DFCLASSIFICATION SCHEDULEI

350

SECRETI

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

59

109.29-64

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 3

---

## Page 4

-3 -

ECRET

NO FORTION DISSEM

B. Was she recruited by Soviet Bloc Intelligence? If so,

what type of assignments,

training, pay, methods. of

communication did she receive?

Mrs. SLOBODA denied that she was approached by Soviet

Intelligence at any stage of her stay in the U.S.SR., let

alone recruited by them. On her arrival in the U.S.S.R. at

Leningrad she was met by her husband who introduced her to

•as net by her

the R.I.S. resettlement officer referred to above.

This

official arranged for her to stay a few days before making ..

arrangements for her journey to Lvov. The name of the re-

settlement officer was given by Mrs. SLOBODA as 'Anton' and

she said that he is between 45 and 50 years of age.

She said

that all the arrangements for her trip to Leningrad were made

by the Soviet Consulate in London whom she had approached after

receiving a letter from her husband in Russia. The Soviet Consul

himself handled her affairs in a courteous and kind manner. The

Russians paid all her expenses for the trip and in addition

shipped her furniture. She maintained that on arrival at Leningrad

she was subjected to no security interrogation or interview pro-

cedures by the Soviet authorities and that the only person con-

nected with Soviet Intelligence whom she met during her stay in

the U.S.S.R. was the Anton referred to above. Furthermore, she

maintained that the R.I.S. had attached no conditions (involving

intelligence activities in this country) to the granting of per-

mission to return hene.

C.

Before SLOBODA defected, did he reveal his intentions to

anyone? Was his decision influenced by Communist literature,

contacts with Soviet Bloc emigres, Soviet Bloc Intelligence agents,

or by personal difficulties?

With whom did SLOBODA associate prior

to defection who may have influenced or arranged his defection?

Mrs. SLOBODA maintained that at no stage prior to his defection

did her husband give her the slightest hint or indication of his

plans to defect.

On the day in question he went off to work dressed

in civilian clothes in the normal way and quite simply, did not come

back at the normal hour. Later however, he telephoned from East

Berlin to inform his wife that he would not be home that night but

would see her again soon and that in no circumstances was she to

worry. A day or so prior to these events SLOBODA had received his

army pay and had handed over the usual amount of housekeeping to

his wife.

A day or so after receiving the telephone call Mrs.

SLOBODA received a postcard saying in effect "don't worry, I will

write again soon"

, and she seemed to think that the postcard bore

EXCLUDED FROM GENERAL

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE

351

SECR

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

ded

109-29-64

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 4

---

## Page 5

- 4.

NO FOREIGN

DISSEM

a Berlin postmark. She said his car was found abandoned near

Cologne.

Mrs. SLOBODA said she knew nothing about her husband

having had any contact with any Russians in Germany at any time

prior to his defection.

She indicated that she had been closely

questioned about this matter by the American authorities in

Frankfurt when her husband's defection had been reported to them.

She said that her husband worked as a "plain clothes" man in the

U.S. Army Military Intelligence group based in Frankfurt. He

never sought to discuss his work with her but he seemed to enjoy

it and it used to involve a certain amount of travelling. Mrs.

SLOBODA said that whilst relations between her and her husband

were normal as at the time of his defection, there had been a

number of disputes over money. It seemed that SLOBODA, contrary

to army regulations, had taken to visiting night clubs

and cabarets

in Frankfurt and also to gambling. All this had led him to in-

curring substantial debts and in this connection Mrs. SLOBODA said

that at the time her husband was in debt to the extent of $4,000,

a fact which he feared would in time reach the ears of the military

authorities and result in him being court martialled. Mrs. SLOBODA

hinted that she had had more than her share of financial worries

whilst they were living in Germany. She said that life as a sol-

dier's wife in the U.S.A. had been extremely pleasant and that

both her husband and herself had more than once cursed the day

when they had been posted to Germany. Mrs. SLOBODA said that she

did not know why her husband decided to defect but agreed that his

state of indebtedness had been playing on his mind for some time.

(Incidentally Michael SLOBODA, brother of Vladimir, stated in

October 1960 that he knew his brother to be heavily in debt due to

gambling and that on one occasion Vladimir SLOBODA had remarked

cryptically' "I

don't want to go, but I must".) Mrs. SLOBODA in-

dicated that her husband had been out on gambling excursions for

many months prior to his actual defection.

D. Details of her travel arrangements immediately prior to ber

departure from England for U.S.S.R., and details of her trip

from England to ultimate destination in U.S.S.R.

See (A) above.

E.

What Soviet Bloe-Intelligence and propaganda exploitation of

SLOBODA and Mrs. SLOBODA were made? What type of questions;

nature and extent of information did they furnish? How many

and in what type of propaganda progress were they involved

and what were their themes?

Mrs. SLOBODA said that during her time in the USSR her family

EXCLUDED FROM GENERAL

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE

352

724

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

6.1

109-29-64.

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 5

---

## Page 6

-5 SECRET

NO FOREIGN

DISSEM

were troubled by propaganda workers on one occasion only. A

soviet journalist sought to interview her to find out how she

felt about living in the U.S.S.R.; in fact the reporter was

handled by her husband.

F. What methods of indoctrination in the Communist ideology

were used while she was in U.S.S.R.?

None.

G. What is her opinion of SLOBODA's present attitude towards

Communism? What is SLOBODA's present mental attitude to-

wards the United States?

Mrs. SLOBODA sied that her husband did not discuss political

matters with her but that he appeared to like his job as a trans-

lator/librarian at the Polytechnic Institute in Ivov. Additionally

he appreciated living in close proximity to his own father and mother.

The authorities had provided a three-roomed flat and SLOBODA 's income

was in excess of 300 roubles a month which was quite good by local

standards.

The eldest boy attended a boarding school and he now spoke

fluent Russian and correspondingly, little English. In short, SLOBODA

seemed quite content with his present lot but Mrs. SLOBODA said she

did not know what her husband thought about the United States.

repeatedly asserted that her husband had not only been reticent about

his plans to defect, but refrained from discussing any of his experi-

ences in Soviet hands prior to her arrival at Leningrad. Mrs. SLOBODA

did not seem to think that such reticence as between man and wife was

at all unusual!

H. What is SLOBODA doing now to include employment, political

activities, names and descriptions of persons with whom he is

in contact?

See (G) above.

I. Is or was SLOBODA connected or associated in any way with

Tadeusz LIPSKI! Dia LIPSKI know about SLOBODA's defection

plans?

At first Mrs. SLOBODA denied all knowledge of Tadeusz LIPSKI

but later said she thought that he must have been the person re-

sponsible for encouraging her husband to consider joining the u.S.

Army. Mrs. SLOBODA recalls that LIPSKI called on them in Frankfurt

on his arrival in Germany. Mrs. SLOBODA said she thought LIPSKI

was a Ukrainian who had been with her husband in the U.K. as a D.P.

after the war. LIPSKI continued to see the SLOBODA family from

time to time in Germany but was stationed in Berlin and not Frankfurt.

She did not see LIPSKI after her husband's defection. She is there-

fore unable to say whether or not LIPSKI knew anything about her

EXCLODED PROM GENERAT

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDYT.F

353

SECRET

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

109.29.64

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 6

---

## Page 7

6-SE

RET

NO FONZION DISSEM

husbiad's plans in this connection.

J.

Where are the SLOBODA children in U.S.S.R. ? What school

are they attending? Are they being given any type of

political indoctrination ?

Two of the SLOBODA children are at present with their father

in Lvov.

The eldest goes to the International boarding school

in Lvov whilst the second son (born in America) attends day

school. The third child was too young attend school in Russia

and is now in England with her mother.

K. What knowledge does she have of other Americans in U.S.S.R.?

Identity of any U.S. citizens contacted by SLOBODA since his

arrival in U.S.S.R.

Mrs. SLOBODA said that she travelled from Moscow to London

with the wife of an American citizen but she claimed to be unable

to recall the name of this person, even though at the time she

did agree to write to the woman concerned and took details of her

address in America.

This woman also came from Ivov. She had to

wait seven months for an exit visa and did not propose to return

to the U.S.S.R. Her husband was an electrical engineer and possi-

bly of emigre stock. Mrs. SLOBODA said she understood he was a

U.S. citizen in much the same boat as her husband.

L. How was communication established with her husband before

she went to U.S.S.R. and persons in England while she was

in U.S.S.R.? Did she notice any type of censorship?

In the first place her husband wrote to her from the U.s.S.R.

and she had experienced no difficulty in sending letters from Lvov

to her family in the U.K. or indeed subsequently receiving letters

her husband, even though the mail was sometimes subject to de-

lays which might imply that censorship was taking place.

M.

Has she contacted any U.S. military personnel since leaving

the U.S.S.R? Request full details of affirmative.

She has made no contact with any U.S. military personnel since

leaving the U.S.S.R.

Her last contact with the American Military

was in Germany in 1960 and she recalled in particular the many

kindnesses she then received at the hands of the U.S. Red Cross

who were of great assistance to her in her hour of need, and who

EXCLUDED FROM GENERAT

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE

354

SE

RE

NO FORTION DISSEM

109-29-44

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 7

---

## Page 8

-7-5

CRET

NO SORCE

in particular raised sufficient funds to clear all outstanding

SLOBODA family liabilities in Germany.

4. CONCLUSION

On the basis of my interview, which lasted upwards of two

hours, I found it impossible to make up my mind about Mrs. SLOBODA.

She is difficult to talk to and the conditions under which we met

in Halifax police station were by no means ideal. Whilst it is

possible that she has withheld information which might incriminate

forthcoming with her when they were reunited in the Soviet Union

as to the reasons and the method of defection.

When it was suggested to her that it might be found desirable

to see her again, and that it might be more convenient for such an

interview to be conducted in London, her reaction was unexpectedly

sharp and adverse.

With a flushed

face, she said that she did not see

¡way, and indicated her marked reluctance to take part in such an exer-

cise without, however, being able to adduce any particularly good rea-

son for being so reluctant. She also seemed to be taken aback when she

was asked what she would be saying to the Russians should they question

her on her return to the U.S.S.R. about possible approaches from U.K.

intelligence agencies.

The question seemed to take her completely by

surprise as though such a possibility had not occurred to her up to that

moment.

Eventually she mumbled that she did not know. She was there-

fore briefed to deny having had any such contacts and to Limit herself

to statements that of course she had been interviewed in the normal way

by the local police, as well as by the Press. She was asked to advise

us - through the Halifax Police - if she did decide to proceed with her

plan to go back to Russia, and she reluctantly agreed to do so. Before

she left, I offered her 5/- to meet the taxi fare to her home, and this

she gladly accepted.

SECLUDED PROM GONERAD

DECLASSIFICATION SCHEDULE

355

SECRET

NO FOREIGN DISSEM

6!! 1

109-29-64

NW 64954 Docld:34517475 Page 8

---