Lee Harvey Oswald's Soviet application
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| Lee Harvey Oswald's letter requesting Soviet citizenship by |
| Lee Harvey Oswald went to the Soviet Union in 1959 to revoke his US citizenship, but was denied Soviet citizenship and sent to work as a "stateless person" in a factory in Minsk. |
Oct. 16, 1959
To the Supreme Soviet of the USSR.
I Lee Harvey Oswald, request that I be granted citizenship in the Soviet Union. My visa began on Oct. 15, and will expire on Oct. 21. I must be granted asylum before this date, while I wait for the citizenship decision.
At present I am a citizen of the United States of America.
I want citizenship because; I am a communist and a worker. I have lived in a decadent capitalist society where the workers are slaves. I am twenty years old, I have completed three years in the United States Marine Corps, I served with the occupation forces in Japan. I have seen American imperialism in all its forms.
I do not want to return to any country outside of the Soviet Union.
I am willing to give up my American citizenship and assume the responsibilities of a Soviet citizen.
I had saved my money which I earned as a private in the American military for two years, in order to come to Russia for the express purpose of seeking citizenship here. I do not have enough money left to live indefinitely here, or to return to any other country. I have no desire to return to any other country. I ask that my request be given quick consideration.
Sincerely,
Lee H. Oswald
CCCP
Сою́з Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик
Committee for State Security
at the Council of Ministers of USSR
20 October 1959
No. 4870
City: Moscow
APPLICATION: Petition
- Vice-chairman of the Committee for State Security at the Council of Ministers of CCCP
- A. Perepelitzen
