Free Republic

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...