The story of Josef and Ctirad Mašín evokes great passion in the Czech Republic even after seventy years. Indeed, from 1951 to 1953, the youth led an active struggle against the communists, at the end of which 7 were dead. Milan Paumer, Zbyněk Janata and Václav Švéda are considered to be members of the Mašín resistance group. The machines were also helped by their uncle Ctibor Novák, who was also executed with their mother Zdenka.
The killing of Josef Rošicky was preceded by the arrest of Josef, Ctirado Mašín and Ctibor Novák in October 1951. At that time, they wanted to meet an American spy and get across the border in order to receive special guerrilla training and be able to operate on our territory. However, they were detained by State Security and brutally interrogated for several months. In August 1952, Ctirad Mašín was sentenced to two and a half years in prison and served his sentence in the uranium mines in Jáchymov, before receiving amnesty from President Antonín Zápotocký in May 1953.
They killed him with their own weapon
However, his brother had other plans in August. From previous events, when they twice raided the offices of the National Security Service they had weapons and wanted to get funds as well. On August 2, Josef Mašín and Václav Švéda, wearing the uniforms of the People’s Militia, were waiting for a car with four employees of the Kovolis Hedvikov company in Žleby in Kutnohorsk. Inside, according to Jiří Padevět, they had 884,239 crowns for wages for employees.
However, the accountant Josef Rošický did not want to give them the money and pulled a gun on them in the car. Mašín and the Swede reacted quickly to the threat and he was shot dead with his own pistol in the scuffle. “Dad couldn’t get out of the car, but he couldn’t help the bag either – he would risk being considered an accomplice to the robbery. Moreover, it was not his money,” Stanislav Rošický explained for the nation’s memory why his father refused to release the paychecks. The Mašín brothers later justified their actions as a fight against the regime.
Very western
A comic was published about the resistance group in 2018 So far so good, which was drawn by the successful and recognized creator Jaromír Švejdík, who uses the stage name Jaromír 99. He collaborated on it together with Honza Novák, who provided the storyline for the comic. “I didn’t decide if I liked them or not. I wanted it to be a very well-told western. In the Czech Republic, there was a discussion about the comic and there were some reviews, so it is always approached with some political point of view. But I’m glad that it came out in Spain in France, v Germany, where they look at it differently,” comments creator Jaromír Švejdík about the comic’s international success.
The guest of the Blesk Podcast was musician and comic artist Jaromír Švejdík. | Lightning: Jakub Poláček
Jaromír Švejdík sees a certain parallel the morality of the actions of the Mašín brothers in the current effort of soldiers fighting against the Russian occupation. “Today we see it in Ukraine, it’s just sometimes necessary to stand up to these regimes and unfortunately also with a gun in hand. As a heavy pacifist, I have to admit this, but I can’t see into their heads and I don’t know how it was in the 1950s,” revealed band member Priessnitz.
Czech society is very divided in its attitude towards the Mašíns, to some they are heroes and to others murderers. Jaromír Švejdík commented on it in the podcast as follows: “In the Czech Republic, I am always asked if my comic is a celebration or a condemnation of their actions. I don’t like this debate. But if you ask, they are heroes according to my honest answer. For me, they are people who stood up against a vile regime.”
What Josef Mašín said about his comics, why Jaromír Švejdík chooses the lives of well-known personalities for his books, and what his most popular character is, he revealed in Blesk Podcast: