Milan Paumer: three times reborn in his journey to freedom

By Kay Grigar

In today's "One on One" I'd like you to sit back and listen to an extraordinary story of determination on a dangerous journey towards freedom. The Masin brothers and their fight for democracy is one of the great stories of 20th century Czechoslovak history. Born to a military father who was persecuted by the Nazis in the Second World War, the Masins put to use their military knowledge and started a resistance group after the communists won elections in Czechoslovakia in 1948. Often regarded, as the "third brother" is Milan Paumer. He took the time to speak with me here in the studio at Radio Prague and explains in detail their escape through Czechoslovakia and East Germany to the West. In October 1953 a group of five men set out for freedom with little resources at a time of year when temperatures were around 0 degrees. The five men were Josef and Ctirad Masin, Milan Paumer, Vaclav Sveda and Zbynek Janata. Only the Masin brothers and Milan Paumer were to survive. Mr. Paumer, who now lives in the Czech Republic once again, describes this period in his as a series of births, three to be exact. Here he uses the diminutive of Josef, Pepa, and calls the brothers 'Mason', the name they adopted in the US. His story begins in the Ucrol train station.


Opinion remains deeply divided in the Czech Republic as to whether the men were justified in taking the lives of the six people they shot on their path to freedom. I am one of them who suppose those men as real heroes who managed to train themselves as great warriors, who managed to spread horror among communists and then incredibly escaped to the West. BTW, both Masins joined US Army and later served in Special Forces. They still live in USA and could not return back home to be awarded due to the stupid absurd accusations made in accordance with old communist laws. That is the another example of never ending heritage of the Evil ...