My father, the KGB spy (225)

Cold War Conversations - "vivid & compelling" The NY Times

Ian Sanders

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.8 • 865 Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2022

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In 1978, Ieva Lesinska was a university student in Soviet Latvia with dreams of becoming a writer. She had just spent a heady month in New York visiting her father, Imants Lesinskis, a Soviet translator working at the United Nations. However, he was an employee of the KGB and a member of the Communist Party. During her trip to the US, Ieva’s father informed her that he and his wife Rasma were about to defect. He offered her a blunt choice: take a taxi to the Soviet Embassy and denounce him as a traitor, or stay with him and never see her mother or her homeland of Latvia again. She chose to stay. The new family officially became East German immigrants with new identities: Peter and Linda Dorn, and their daughter Evelyn. They were citizens of nowhere who possessed re-entry permits but no passports. In 1985, soon after Mr Lesinskis publicly disclosed confidential items on various KGB operations in Latvia, he died under mysterious circumstances. Watch the film about Ieva story here: UK https://amzn.to/3In12Ra US https://amzn.to/3xRZsBX This podcast relies on listener support to enable me to continue to capture these incredible stories and make them available for free. You can support my work and help to preserve Cold War history via one-off or monthly donations Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ for more details. Do join our Facebook discussion group where the cold war conversation continues between episodes. Just search Cold War Conversations on Facebook. I am delighted to welcome Ieva Lesinska to our Cold War conversation… There’s further information here. https://coldwarconversations.com/episode225/ 0:00 Introduction and story of Ieva Lesinska's parents as sleeper agents 2:26 Ieva Lesinska on her childhood and family history in Soviet Latvia 17:03 Revelation of Ieva's father's KGB affiliation and defection plans 23:02 Ieva Lesinska's journey to the United States and her decision to stay 39:13 Ieva Lesinska's adjustment to new life and identity in the US 50:13 Ieva's academic journey in the US, from Ohio State University to University of Colorado 57:42 Maintaining contact with her mother and dealing with homesickness 1:00:39 Ieva's father's mysterious death and his double life as a CIA and KGB agent 1:08:17 Reunion with her mother and her life after liberation in Latvia 1:14:04 Her story being adapted into a film and rejection of the victim narrative 1:17:41 Ieva Lesinska's current life as a journalist and translator 1:19:13 Acknowledging and thanking patrons Table of contents powered by PodcastAI✨ Support the project! https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/ Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/ColdWarPod Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/coldwarpod/ Instagram https://www.instagram.com/coldwarconversations/ Youtube https://youtube.com/@ColdWarConversations Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to Cold War Conversations, the home of real stories of the Cold War.
0:05.7	My father, but also my mother, were trained as, what are they called, sleeper agents,
0:15.2	who would be sent into West Germany and spy for the Soviets.
0:24.5	This is Cold War Conversations.
0:29.2	If you're new here, you've come to the right place to listen to first-hand Cold War history accounts.
0:35.2	Do make sure you follow us in your podcast app so that you don't miss out on future episodes.
0:42.5	In 1978, Iyava Lesinska was a university student in Soviet Latvia with dreams of becoming a writer.
0:51.8	She had just spent a heady month in New York visiting her father
0:55.1	Immanz Lesinskis, a Soviet translator working at the United Nations. However, he was an employee
1:02.8	of the KGB and a member of the Communist Party. During her trip to the US, Iovva's father
1:09.8	informed her that he and his wife Rasmus were about to defect.
1:14.9	He offered her a blunt choice, take a taxi to the Soviet embassy and denounce him as a traitor, or stay with him and never see her mother or her homeland of Latvia again.
1:26.5	She chose to stay. The new family officially became
1:30.7	East German immigrants with new identities, Peter and Linda Dorn and their daughter Evelyn. They were
1:37.5	citizens of nowhere who possessed re-entry permits but no passports. In 1985, soon after Mr. Lazinskis publicly disclosed confidential
1:47.1	items on various KGB operations in Latvia, he died under mysterious circumstances.
1:54.8	If you'd like to support the podcast, I welcome individual donations or monthly donations to support my work, recording
2:03.8	these incredible stories.
2:06.2	If you become a monthly supporter via Patreon, you will get the sought after Cold War
2:11.1	Conversations coaster as a thank you and bask in the warm glow of knowing that you are
2:16.6	helping to preserve Cold War history.
2:19.4	Hi, I'm Sue Norton and I live in Dublin, Ireland.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ian Sanders, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ian Sanders and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.