After WWII, Minsk was completely devastated. On June 22nd, 1941, Hitler’s forces stormed past Brest moving up the vast European plain toward Moscow. It wasn’t until July 4th, 1944 that Minsk was liberated by the Red Army. Three years later by the time the Nazis were driven out, 90% of the population had perished during the war. Just imagine that – 9 out of any 10 people were dead. The city was completely destroyed. Almost no original buildings remained. The survivors were completely broken. Their homeland had been decimated and everyone they knew was dead. They desperately wanted something to believe in.

That’s where the Soviet Union comes in. The Soviets designated Minsk a “hero city” for their extraordinary sacrifices during the Great Patriot War. This meant that the USSR would pay for Minsk’s reconstruction. As the city was completely destroyed, it was to be rebuilt as a socialist utopia, an example of how communism would create a perfect society. The avenues were wide, the buildings massive and overbearing, and the parks and areas for leisure were plentiful. Minsk is a gateway city between Russia and Europe. All trains from Europe pass through Minsk on their way to Moscow. The Soviets wanted Minsk to be an example of peak communist culture as travelers passed through to the Russian heartland.

This is the setting Lee Harvey Oswald found himself in when the authorities in Moscow assigned him to work in Belarus. Oswald was honorably discharged from the Marines in 1959, but upon returning to civilian life he grew dissatisfied and disillusioned with the West. He traveled to the Soviet Union on a tour on October 16th, 1959. On the final day of the tour, he made it known to his tour guide that he wanted to defect and join the Soviet Union. The tour guide, stunned, contacted the local authorities who told Oswald he could not defect and must return to the United States. On the final night before his deportation he either attempted or faked a suicide attempt allowing him to spend more time in the USSR. He was rushed to the hospital and placed under psychiatric watch. Here he again met with Soviet officials. This time, however, they allowed him to stay likely for fear of sparking an international incident if he did kill himself.

Oswald was assigned to work at a radio factory in Minsk. He originally wanted to study at Moscow State University, but the Soviets wanted him out of the capital for fear of unnecessary media attention surrounding an American defector. Minsk was a relatively quiet city at this time, and it was the perfect place for Oswald to be out of sight yet close enough to a government center for them to keep an eye on him at all times. When Oswald was initially escorted to Minsk, he didn’t know where Minsk was. He actually asked one of the guards if Minsk was in Siberia. The guard just laughed at him. Needless to say, Oswald was in for quite a surprise when he arrived.

The Soviets gave Oswald a fourth floor one-bedroom apartment on Kamunistyčnaja Street just off from Victory Square with a beautiful view of Janki Kupaly park. Oswald did not know this at the time, but the Soviets bugged his room placing listening devices in the ceiling. They even made a peep hole through the relatively thin walls so a KGB officer could watch him at all times. Some of these details are discussed in an excellent book titled The Interloper: Lee Harvey Oswald Inside the Soviet Union by Peter Savodnik. They’re also further summarized in a 2012 New York Times article looking at Oswald’s time in the USSR. Life was difficult for Oswald in Minsk, and as a non-Russian he was socially ostracized. Factory workers were told not to talk to him outside of work. People weren’t very nice to Oswald and gave him a tough time for his language difficulties.

When in Minsk, Oswald befriended a man named Ernst Titovets. Oswald wanted to practice his Russian and Titovets was actually studying English so the two began spending time together. They became friends, and Tsitavets has actually written a book about his time with Oswald. Recently Belarusian state TV made a documentary about Oswald’s apartment featuring Titovets. In the documentary, they visit the apartment, spoke with its current owner, and invite Titovets over to continue their talk about Oswald. As Titovets was Oswald’s friend, he spent a great amount of time in that apartment and clearly remembers his time there. Titovets even wrote a book about his time with Oswald using his perspective as a doctor and researcher to analyze his friend. This interview is extremely helpful for determining the actual apartment location.

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Oswald’s Apartment Location

The documentary makes it difficult to see which apartment exactly belonged to Oswald. The Lonely Planet claims it is “on the bottom left” while other tour guides claim it is the fourth-floor corner apartment. Both of these are wrong. I carefully analyzed the footage from the Belarusian documentary comparing it with lights and other fixtures on the apartment walls to determine its location. The address is Vulica Kamunistyčnaja 4, Pietrykaŭ 247940, Belarus. Oswald’s apartment was apartment number 24 in building number 4. Looking at the building facade from Janki Kupaly Park, there are five fourth floor balcony apartments all together in the middle. Oswald’s is the second two from the left. These balconies connect so the left was his kitchen and the right was his bedroom. See photos below.

If you look carefully in the documentary, there are shots off the balcony looking at the park and the First Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party building. Clearly the apartment must be somewhere along the park towards the left side.

Upon further analysis, I looked at the lights noticing four of them are white while one is black. This and the storm drain gives away the apartments location. In the documentary photo, we see a white light and then a black light further away off the balcony. As the black light is in the middle, clearly the apartment must be the second from the left. Finally, to secure my prediction, there is some sort of wood separator structure in the background between the second and third apartment from the left. From the street this shelving structure is still visible. We know the apartment was both the first and second balconies from the left because Titovets is also seen here on the far left balcony next to the storm drain.

Staying in Oswald’s Apartment

Lee Harvey Oswald’s former residence is obviously privately owned. The Belarusian government and local people aren’t particularly excited that one of the most famous assassins ever lived in their city. Because of this, the apartment was never turned into a museum. Fortunately it is still possible to stay the night in the same apartment building at Dreamy Castle Hostel!

Dreamy Castel hostel is located just a few apartments down from Oswald’s on the 4th floor. The entrances to the apartments are through different doors, but they’re still in the same building. I spent two nights here while I was visiting Minsk. The hostel is extremely cozy and clean. The beds were very comfortable and I enjoyed spending time in the corner sunroom on the 6th floor offering excellent views of Minsk.

Oswald Leaves Minsk

Oswald wrote in his diary in January 1961: “I am starting to reconsider my desire about staying. The work is drab, the money I get has nowhere to be spent. No nightclubs or bowling alleys, no places of recreation except the trade union dances. I have had enough.” He had spent over two years in the Soviet Union, but many argue that Oswald’s failed relationship with Ella German, a co-worker at the radio factor, was the reason for his departure. Throughout his life, Oswald never quite “fit in” anywhere and Minsk was no different. Oswald had a tough time adjusting to life in Minsk. During those days, people weren’t allowed on the streets after dark. Life was much simpler and more conservative. Dancing was forbidden on most occasions.

A few months later Oswald meets Marina Prusakova, a 19 year old pharmacology student in Minsk. Prusakova was originally born in Russia, but moved to Belarus to live with her uncle in 1957. She met Oswald at one of the trade union dances on March 17, 1961. They married six weeks later and had a child. During the summer of 1962 Oswald informed the US Embassy of his desire to repatriate with his new wife. He did not originally give up his citizenship so the US Embassy granted his request.

The rest of the story is prone to many conspiracies, but we do know that Oswald was arrested on November 22nd, 1963 at the Texas Theater for the assassination of President John F. Kennedy and murder of Dallas police officer J. D. Tippit. Oswald was then shot in the abdomen by Dallas nightclub owner Jack Ruby on November 24th later dying from the wound.

Conspiracies

I won’t get into all the conspiracies regarding second shooters and set ups because these extend beyond Minsk, but I think one interesting conspiracy questions whether Oswald was recruited as a Soviet agent while in the USSR. While I haven’t read all the literature surrounding this theory, I find it hard to believe. I just don’t see how the USSR could gain from the Kennedy assassination. The risks of an uncovered plot assassinating a US President surely could result in nuclear war and total annihilation. First, I don’t see why the Soviets would take that risk, and second I don’t see how Kennedy’s assassination would have been beneficial to the Soviet Union. Killing Kennedy would not result in some sort of major US policy shift towards the Soviet Union. These countries we’re still enemies and Lyndon Johnson and future presidents continued to challenge the USSR. There is just no gain and unlimited downside. I think the story is quite simple – Oswald moved to the USSR either because of a desire to be famous or a hate of the United States – possibly both – and this initial mindset led to the assassination. He was not a Soviet agent.

Aside from Oswald’s apartment, there are a bunch of other interesting things to do in this capital city. With the new visa policy and it’s potential expansion to 10 days, Minsk will continue to grow as an off the beaten path tourist destination in Eastern Europe.