Josef and Ctirad Mašín

Ctirad Mašín (August 11, 1930 – August 13, 2011) and Josef Mašín (b. March 8, 1932) were brothers known for their armed resistance against the communist regime in Czechoslovakia during the period 1951-1953. Their father was the late general Josef Mašín.

Following World War II, Mašín's sons, who were both born in Prague, attended a high school in Poděbrady. After the Communists seized power, they witnessed how some of their family's friends—opponents of the regime—were silenced, vanished without a trace or were sentenced to death in public show trials. For instance Milada Horáková, a famous early judicial murder victim, had been a friend of their mother. Both ladies spent time in Nazi Theresienstadt concentration camp during the WWII. The Mašíns shared the idea that the Americans, who had helped to establish the Czechoslovakian state, would soon come and "wipe out Communism". The radio stations "Radio Free Europe" (RFE) and "Voice Of America" (VOA) seemed to promise an imminent invasion. Therefore, they formed a military resistance group with a few friends. The Mašín brothers' uncle Ctibor Novák, a former Secret Service Officer, became an adviser of the group. One source says that Novak had actually put up with the fact of Communist rule and was satisfied if the Communists didn't bother him. He engaged in the group mainly because he hoped he could control his hot-tempered nephews and prevent them from doing the most dangerous actions. But that was just his defense strategy when he was on trial in 1954. Indeed, he was very supportive and encouraged the brothers' actions. The brothers and Novak were the only ones in the whole "no-name group" who knew all other members by name.

The following actions of the group are documented:

In 1951 the group raided two police stations in order to get weapons and ammunition. In both cases one policeman was killed (one of them previously chloroformed and handcuffed).

Since it was becoming increasingly difficult to conduct actions, the brothers decided to go West. Their goal was to get some real training in partisan warfare techniques from the Americans. They believed a shooting war was imminent, and they wanted to return to Czechoslovakia in the vanguard of the "liberating" western armies. A first escape attempt failed when a CIC agent who was supposed to accompany them was arrested by the Czechoslovak Secret Service StB. During interrogation, he named Ctirad Mašín. Shortly thereafter, both brothers and Novák were arrested by the StB and were tortured. The StB never found out that they had seized the men responsible for the police station raids. Josef Mašín and his uncle were released after a few months.

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