Posted on 08/17/2011 8:49:22 AM PDT by KyGeezer
Ctirad Masin, who died on August 13 aged 81, was a leading member of a Czechoslovak group that took up arms against the communist state before fighting its way to freedom across the Iron Curtain, eluding the biggest manhunt in the history of the Soviet bloc.
The ruthlessness and daring of the “Masin Gang”, as they were known, continues to divide opinion in the Czech Republic, with some regarding them as resistance heroes, and others (including around half the Czech population, according to a recent poll) regarding them as murderers. Ctirad Masin
Masin, his brother Josef, and their friend Milan Paumer became part of a resistance cell after the communists took power in Czechoslovakia in 1948. In 1951, determined to get weapons for their struggle, they robbed two police stations, killing two policemen. In one case Ctirad subdued the man with chloroform, before slitting his throat. “We wanted to show the communists what could be done, that we could kill, that we could fight back too,” Paumer recalled.
In 1953 the Masins donned military uniform and flagged down a van carrying a large sum – wages for local factory workers. When the clerk in the van pulled out a gun, Josef Masin grabbed the man’s hand, pushed the weapon into his chest and forced him to pull the trigger.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
The Masins were patriots and heroes. Period.
As to the communists they killed? I hope they rot in hell.
Amen.
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