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Outlook: The KGB Spy with Two Families

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Jack Barksy

02/05/2018 GMT

The KGB Spy with Two Families

BBC World Service - Outlook, The KGB Spy with Two Families

The remarkable double life of Jack Barsky, an undercover agent in the US

The remarkable double life of Jack Barsky, who was born in East Germany and sent to the United States as a "sleeper agent".

Jack Barsky was born in East Germany and in 1978 he was sent to the United States as a "sleeper agent" by the Soviet security agency, the KGB. He got married and had a child there. But he already had another family, under another name, in East Germany. Jack kept the secret about his double life for years.

Francia Marquez is a member of the Afro-Colombian community who lives in La Toma, in Colombia, an area devastated by the illegal gold mining carried out by rebel groups to fund their criminal activities. These gangs are ruthless and often use violence to keep locals away from their pits. But Francia is fighting back, and she has just been given the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her campaigns. 

On a quiet back street in the Russian city of St Petersburg there's a rather special place. It's a café called the Czech house and is run by Alexandra Sinyak and her husband Evgeny. Last November, the couple noticed that pensioners in the city were struggling to get by, and decided to do something to help. Alexandra started inviting the elderly to eat for free between 12 and 4pm every day. She didn't know what to expect but the response was quite extraordinary. Alina Tsiopa went to meet Alexandra and the guests she calls "the grannies and grandpas". 

(Picture: Jack Barsky. Credit: Tyndale House Publishers.)

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