Josef Mašín

Prepared by the Witnesses of War team

Josef “Joe” Masin, born Josef Mašín on 8 March 1932 in Prague, Czechoslovakia, was the younger son of Lieutenant Colonel Josef Mašín, a member of the Three Kings anti-Nazi resistance group. His father was executed by the Nazis in June 1942. During the occupation, Josef and his older brother Ctirad experienced Gestapo searches and the persecution of their family.

Despite their young age, both brothers became involved in resistance activities. In 1944, they helped a Soviet prisoner of war escape from a German transport in Poděbrady and subsequently assisted in hiding him. On 17 September 1946, President Edvard Beneš awarded both brothers the Czechoslovak Medal for Bravery Before the Enemy for their wartime actions.

Following the communist takeover in February 1948, Josef and Ctirad formed an armed resistance group with friends. They obtained weapons, carried out sabotage and raided police stations and a payroll transport. These operations involved fatal violence: Josef shot a policeman in 1951 and a payroll cashier during a struggle in 1952. The killings remain central to the controversy surrounding the group’s activities.

In October 1953, five members attempted to reach West Berlin through East Germany. Their escape became a month-long pursuit involving thousands of security personnel and several gun battles. Josef, Ctirad and Milan Paumer reached the West; Zbyněk Janata and Václav Švéda were captured and later executed in Czechoslovakia.

Josef subsequently served for five years in the United States Army Special Forces, including the 77th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and later the 10th Special Forces Group in West Germany. After leaving the Army, he pursued a business career in Germany and the United States, eventually settling with his family in Santa Barbara, California.