A Spy in the Family: An Incredible True Story of Espionage and Betrayal

by Paul Henderson, David Gardner

A Spy in the An Incredible True Story of Espionage and Betrayal is the first book to reveal the full, astonishing story of ‘Václav Jelínek’, aka Erwin van Haarlem, using previously unseen documents from the UK, the Netherlands, and the Czech Republic

Fascinating tale of how the authors helped Johanna, now 99, find her real son, living close to the orphanage in Bohemia where she left him in 1945

Johanna van Haarlem looks across the Old Bailey courtroom to the hawk-featured man in the dock. There is no expression on his face. No remorse. And certainly no love.

For over 10 years, she had believed he was Erwin van Haarlem, the son she gave up for adoption as a baby in the chaos of Europe in World War Two. She’d embraced him into her family and showered him with all the love he’d missed as a child. Then she lost her son a second time when the police told her the man she now faced in court was an imposter.

Apparently his real name was Václav Jelínek.

But Special Branch, MI5 and even the judge who sentenced Erwin van Haarlem to prison in 1989 as the last Soviet Bloc agent of the Cold War had no clue to his real identity – he was the spy with no name.

Using the name Erwin van Haarlem, he was ordered by his masters to spy on the Royal Family and the Labour Party, to infiltrate Jewish groups and plunder the West’s nuclear secrets.

But his biggest betrayal was to the woman he tricked into believing she was his mother for more than a decade.

It was only after British intelligence caught the spy red-handed sending coded messages to Prague from his London flat that Johanna was finally forced to accept that the charming art dealer that she thought was Erwin was a professional liar. She had wanted so much to believe that he was her son that she had ignored one crucial clue that gave him away – his eyes were brown, and her baby’s eyes were blue.

In A Spy In The Family, investigative journalists Paul Henderson and David Gardner reveal the incredible untold story of the mother who lost her son twice.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Audiobook

275 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 29, 2025

About the author

Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
This profile may contain books from multiple authors of this name.

Reviews

[Alan Chrisman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hallowing true story of Dutch woman during WW2, gets pregnant by German soldier, but her father(a German sympathizer) rejects her and she has to put her baby in an orphanage. She spends years trying find her son. When she finally does he turns out to be a Chzech Cold War spy-or is he? Tale of a mother's undying love for her son.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real page turner.

A story of war time survival and horrors, a not very Christian Christian, the paranoia of governments and the persistence of one woman, leading eventually to a happy ending.

We are given an insight into the life of a spy, the unrealistic demands made by the handlers, often an outwardly glamorous life but lonely and precarious.

There is the underlying theme about the naughty communist spying on us, but there have been a number of cases of the security services of this country putting agents into organisations that they consider “potentially troublesome”. But it did show how these volunteer organisations are willing to accept enthusiastic helpers.

I felt that sometimes the text was a bit repetitive and the interchangeability of the spies really name, code name and alias a bit clunky, but I suppose it drove home his “identity crisis”.

[Jason P · Rating 3 out of 5]

Elements of this story are astounding, but the book is ultimately a little bit thin. I’d be curious to know how it would have come off in the hands of a non-fiction master like Ben Macintyre. The story was certainly captivating, but I felt like the authors were a little too taken with the mother who gave her son up for adoption - brushing over some huge questions (like the Nazi father) and too eager in the end to make the spy a total villain. An interesting tale nonetheless.

[Ashley Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story is absolutely heartbreaking, and made even worse by the fact that it's a true story and the perpetrator felt absolutely no remorse for his known deceit.

The first part of the story details the struggles of a young Johanna van Haarlem, who was raped and impregnated by a German soldier stationed in Holland in 1944. Despite the fact that her father, himself a Jew entertained the Nazis at his house during their occupation, upon hearing that she's pregnant by one of the soldiers, he disowns her and force her out of their house. The only way they agree to have her back in their house is if she goes to Czechoslovakia to put the child up for adoption. She goes there and agrees to give the baby, whom she names Erwin van Haarlem to the Red Cross, but with the promise that she can come back some day to reclaim him when she has the money to cover for the cost of his care during his stay. Her father however also forces her to sign documents stating that she no longer wants any claim to the child, and as a final blow, he burns up adoption papers the family gets sent so she can't track down the whereabouts of little Erwin in the future.

Meanwhile, we have super-spy Václav Jelinek who works for both the StB, the Czech counterintelligence agency and the USSR's KGB where he takes on the assumed name of Erwin Van Haarlem because it was common at the time for counterintelligence agencies to appropriate the names of missing or presumed dead orphans The new Erwin is trained in spy craft and sent to London gain intelligence on the the Royal Family. For awhile things go smoothly for this new Erwin as he uses his charm and jobs working as a bartender in the Hilton and later as a successful art dealer, Jelinek used his charm to infiltrate the Jewish organization The 35s, and send information of their activities to the StB along with other knowledge. Then in 1977, he's thrown for a loop when the The Red Cross contact him saying that his mother would like to get in touch.

On the orders of the StB he's made to maintain the charade to Johanna that he is her long-lost son, and conveniently sidesteps any questions she asks about his "adoptive parents" and where he grew up. This charade continues for 13 years - even going so far as to meeting and being accepted by her other son Hans and other extended relatives. Jelinek grows tired of the Johanna and gets callous towards her, allowing MI5 to grow suspicious of him and soon realize he's an imposter. A DNA test is done and Johanna must face the truth and feels as though she's lost her son all over again. She does agree to testify against Jelinek in court where he's sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The final part of the book is dedicated to Johanna requesting the aid of the authors of the book to at last track down the REAL Erwin. While Johanna does eventually get to experience some happiness during the eventual reunion, it still is mindboggling to me that she would have to go through a nightmare like this in the first place. I also can't imagine anyone willingly duping a mother for 13 years with affection, memories and gifts and not feeling any remorse or guilt. I know, he's a sociopath so I shouldn't expect any less, but it's still heartbreaking to think about.

[Ray Grynol · Rating 4 out of 5]

The old adage that truth is stranger than fiction sums up this story perfectly. Reading at times like a John Le Carré spy thriller, the story focuses on the life of Václav Jelinek as a Czech spy in London; however, Jelinek works under the assumed identity of Erwin van Haarlem, who was left at an orphanage by his Dutch mother during WWII. Since the StB, the Czech counterintelligence agency, feels that the real van Haarlem will be difficult to find, the group appropriates the name and trains Jelinek in spy craft and sends him to London as Erwin van Haarlem. The first part of the story shows the poignant tribulations of Erwin’s mother, Johanna van Haarlem, who was raped and impregnated by a German soldier stationed in Holland in 1944. To avoid the ignominy of their daughter’s having a child out of wedlock and especially having a child fathered by a German, Johanna’s parents disown her and force her out of the house. Desperate to survive and to keep her child, Johanna goes to Czechoslovakia, but her penury compels her to give Erwin to the Red Cross for their care with the understanding that she can come back for him when she has enough money to pay for the child’s upkeep. The second part of the story shows Jelinek’s training to become a spy, his adoption of Erwin’s identity, and his work around London with groups like The 35s, a group of British Jews who campaigned for the release of the refuseniks in the USSR and the freedom for them to emigrate to Israel. Through his suave character and his occupation as a bartender in the Hilton and later as a successful art dealer, Jelinek used his charm to infiltrate The 35s, and send information of their activities to the StB who eventually send it to the KGB in Russia. Even when Johanna’s persistence to find her son leads her to find the imposter Erwin, Jelinek, in an effort to avoid compromising his espionage in London, continues the charade by encouraging Johanna’s belief that he is her long-lost son, Erwin. Jelinek’s callousness towards Johanna’s feelings becomes evident over a ten-year period during which he maintains a relationship with his “mother” and his half-brother, sending them gifts and going on trips with them. His insensitivity works against him when MI5 arrests him and brings him to trial where DNA evidence proves he is not Johanna’s son, and she testifies against him. The final section of the book focuses on Johanna’s continued search for Erwin in Czechoslovakia. Journalists Paul Henderson and David Gardner who collaborated on the research tell an engaging and, at times, emotionally wrenching story that will captivate fans who love tales of espionage.

[H Wesselius · Rating 3 out of 5]

As the living memory of WWII dies out, writers are mining it for interesting stories to tell and memorialise. This is one of those stories. Unfortunately what could be an interesting story is marred by uneven writing and slightly mis-provided historical context.

In recounting what is essentially the story of a woman mistreated by her family and then misled by a spy, the surrounding historical context is uneven at best. Some information is missing or wrong (the Gereformeerde Kerk was conservative not fundamentalist) and others are extra (why do we need to know Italy was invaded in 1943 when it was 1944 and the father died in Caen or the Blitz happened in 1941 when describing the danger of train travel in 1994-45 Germany). The description of the cold war was haphazard at best.

Normally, one would be sympathetic to the mother in the story but although the writer occassionally tells us to be empathetic, he (or they) rarely show us empathy. The story of the spy at times supersedes the mother and often reads farcical and even sympathetically but in the end we are told he's the bad guy. The writing in short is uneven and does a disservice to what is an interesting life story.

[Beverley Munday · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating true story about the a young Dutch mother forced to give up her child in a Czech orphanage during WW2 and her search to find him again. When she found him he turned out to be an imposter, a Czech spy, living in London. After the spies trial she finally tracks down her real son. This is an inspiring story of perseverance and resilience despite many obstacles. Highly recommend.

[Helena Scutt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main pov of Joanna the mother of the real Erwin does her justice. A woman who keeps going and follows her one true dream in life to be reunited with her son.
And then countered with the fake Erwin who spies for Czechia/USSR.
I didn't find as page turning as dad did but it was mildly interesting to see a peek into a real life spies life/missions.
Overall it has a happy ending and I'm so glad it did

[Lisette Frankton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a great summer read! IT was so unique, not so much like a novel, or a biography, bur more like an op-ed or even magazine. I loved the pictures and documents of the people in the story; you really are enmeshed in a mystery spanning decades.
Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys mysteries, thrillers, history, and/or stories of mothers persevering.

[Todd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting book, a little light on what secrets the spy discovered, aside from infiltrating Jewish groups.

At the end - in the Acknowledgements, there are 3 books listed from Czechoslovakia. Two about the spy, and one the memoir of the 'Mother'. While it's likely the reporters who authored this book had to be some investigating, I really wonder how much, given the already printed material.

[Jim C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing true story of a Dutch woman who leaves her infant son in a Czech orphanage during the later stages of WW2. What follows over the decades makes a good read: a Czech spy with a stolen identity is stationed in England and eventually deceives the mother into believing he is her actual son. Highly recommended.

[Emily Suchanek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Spy in the Family reads like the kind of secret you stumble into and can’t quite put back where you found it. Paul Henderson tells the story of discovering that a close family member had lived a double life as a spy, and he does it with a steady, searching voice that feels less sensational and more quietly stunned. The book moves between the everyday texture of family life and the slow reveal of espionage (code names, betrayals, half-truths) so the shock lands in human terms. Henderson is less interested in spy-movie theatrics than in the emotional whiplash of realizing that the person you thought you knew was always slightly elsewhere.

What makes the book so absorbing is its intimacy. Henderson treats loyalty, love, and trust as fragile things, showing how secrecy ripples outward through generations. There’s a tenderness to the way he writes about memory; what we choose to remember, what we forgive, and how families rebuild narratives once the old ones collapse. The prose is clear and unshowy, letting the strangeness of the truth speak for itself. A Spy in the Family stays with you because it isn’t just about espionage; it’s about identity, inheritance, and the complicated grace of trying to understand someone fully, even when their life was built on concealment.

[Dana · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF
I lost interest at about halfway through this book, the story was interesting enough but the writing seemed to jump all over the place, there maybe needed to be a short 1-2 page description with aliases to help the reader keep track of who they were reading about

[Alvira Plett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is the best book I’ve read in a very long time! What a great read and a true story. Never give up-always keep your head up and find ways to make it.

[Kayla Cork · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

I looooove me a good spy/war story esp when it’s real.

[Ron McGuire · Rating 5 out of 5]

an excellent story, very glad I had the opportunity to read it.

[Sara Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting story but poorly recounted.

[Mike Ford · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enthralling read full of mystery and emotion a page turner. I have a feeling that a film will be made from this.

[Taya C · Rating 5 out of 5]

Started feeling stressed half way through that I was reading too fast and it would be over too soon. It was. Loved this book so much.

[Amanda T · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful story of love, loss and love again.

The audio needed work though - repeating sentences and at one point, the narrator coughs, distinctly and loudly. Whoever edited it should be fired.

[Ninia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Erg interessant verhaal over een verloren zoon. Het is goed en duidelijk geschreven, echter mis ik de warmte en diepte om het een ontroerend verhaal te maken.

[Emma · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant en aangrijpend verhaal, wel wat taai geschreven door de vele herhalingen en het regelmatig uitleggen hoe we ons als lezer bij bepaalde zaken moeten voelen.

[Tim Thorington · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Very good ending...

[Valerie Colquhoun · Rating 3 out of 5]

We will never know the true depth of knowledge the unprotected spies have provided.

[iCod · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great read.

[Mary Swingler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. What a page turner. A non fiction that read like a novel. Very well researched and a good ending. If you like spy stories this book is for you.