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/ Thank you very much for listening. It is really appreciated. Have a look at our store and find the ideal gift for the Cold War enthusiast in your life? Just go to https://coldwarconversations.com/store/ Support the show (https://coldwarconversations.com/donate/)