[This message has been edited by Cold Warrior]
Belarus’ most famous resident was ironically an infamous
American. Lee Harvey Oswald, alledged assassin
of US President John F. Kennedy, lived in Minsk at
Ulitsa Kommunisticheskaya 4, for two years. After leaving
the US Marines, Oswald defected to the USSR,
making a confusing trip by boat to England, plane to
Finland and finally by train to Leningrad on October 16,
1959. The Soviets didn’t want him, and after months
of waiting they threatened to kick him out of the country.
He surrendered his passport to the US embassy
and slashed his wrists in a suicide attempt.
After recovery,he was sent to Minsk, where he arrived on January
8, 1960, and began work at the Minsk Horizon Radio
Factory on the 13th, earning 700 roubles a month for
easy work. Oswald, now known as Alek, met a local girl,
Marina, and they were married in the spring of 1961.
They produced a daughter, Marinka. Disillusioned, the
Oswalds left the USSR via Germany, taking a boat from
Holland, and settled near Dallas. The apartment where
Oswald lived is easy to find. Walk down
Kommunisticheskaya from Ploshtad Pobedy, and it’s
in the first block overlooking the park with the inset
balconies and Classicist pillars. Oswald’s apartment is
the bottom left one with a balcony. No plaque has been
placed here yet. Find out more about Oswald’s life in
the USSR at Peter Wronski’s excellent site,
www.russianbooks.org/oswald-in-russia.htm
