Milan Paumer
Encyclopedia
Milan Paumer was a member of a militant Czechoslovak anticommunist resistance group
that attracted worldwide fame – and notoriety – for killing seven men in the early 1952s at robbery money plus arms and evading the biggest manhunt in the history of the Eastern Bloc
. His five-man group, the Mašín
Gang, carried out raids against state institutions in Czechoslovakia before being forced to flee to the West in October 1953. The group crossed the Czech border to East Germany, making their way to West Berlin
while an estimated 25,000 East German policemen, soldiers and secret agents were searching for them. Two of their members were wounded in shootouts in which a total of four East German policemen were killed, but Paumer and the remaining two members of the Mašín Gang successfully made it to the West and ultimately to the United States.
After returning to the Czech Republic
following the fall of Communism
, Paumer retired to his old home town. He remained a controversial figure who was reviled by some as a murderer but hailed by others as a heroic resistance figure. He was honoured by the Czech government in 2008 and the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Nečas
, declared that Paumer had made a heroic decision to fight Communist oppression.
in eastern Bohemia
on 7 April 1931. During his childhood he lived in the nearby town of Poděbrady
. It was there that he first met Ctirad and Josef Mašín
, two brothers whose war hero father, a Czechoslovak general, was murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.
In 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
seized power in a coup d'état
and imposed a Stalinist dictatorship on the country. Paumer and the Mašín brothers decided to begin a campaign of armed resistance. They formed a group that became known as the "Mašín Gang" and began by carrying out minor acts of sabotage in the area around their home town, such as burning fields and defacing posters of Stalin. They decided to obtain weapons and in 1951 they raided two police stations, killing two policemen in the process. In a subsequent raid on a security van carrying a payroll to a manufacturing plant, the gang succeeded in stealing around a million Czechoslovak crowns but killed the van's cashier during the raid.
The East German authorities responded with a massive manhunt that was said to have involved up to 25,000 policemen, soldiers and Stasi
secret agents. Paumer and his friends made their way across East Germany to West Berlin, living off the land, sleeping in the open in branch-covered holes and from time to time fighting off the police. During this time, three more East German policemen were killed in gun battles with the gang. Paumer himself was shot in the hip; although he suffered a painful injury, the wound did not immobilise him and he was able to continue with the escape. One of the other escapees, Václav Švéda, was not so lucky and was forced to surrender after being wounded.
At the time, the Berlin Wall
had not yet been built and the inner German border was still relatively easy to cross around West Berlin. Paumer and the Mašín brothers made it to the outskirts of Berlin by hiding in the undercarriage of a train. On 2 November 1953, they reached the West by crawling along a ditch. Paumer later recalled:
His colleagues Janata and Švéda, who had been captured earlier, were taken back to Czechoslovakia where they were executed in 1955. Ctibor Novak, the Mašíns' uncle, was also executed.
. Paumer himself became a sergeant in the United States Army
and served in South Korea
. He worked in the aeronautical industry in Florida
after leaving the Army and later ran a café. Following the Velvet Revolution
of 1989, which ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the outstanding warrants against Paumer and the Mašíns were quashed by the new government. Paumer returned to his native country and settled again at Poděbrady, where he retired in 2001. He remained active in politics and was a frequent attendant at anticommunist gatherings.
His story was documented in the 2006 book Gauntlet: five friends, 20,000 enemy troops, and the secret that could have changed the course of the Cold War by Barbara Mašín (ISBN 9781591145158).
.
The controversy over Paumer's activities resulted in him being cold-shouldered for many years by members of the post-Communist Czech government. It was not until 2008 that he was officially recognized by the government, when the then Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek
presented him with an award. The decision led to a major controversy; a poll commissioned by Czech Television
found that nearly half the population regarded the Mašín Gang as criminals. The Czech Communist Party demanded that Paumer be stripped of his award and put on trial, while members of the left-wing Czech Social Democratic Party
suggested that Paumer and his colleagues were "not good role models" for a time when the country was fighting terrorism. Historians and commentators noted that many Czech people are still ambiguous about the Communist past, particularly as Paumer and the Mašíns were virtually alone in forcibly resisting the Communists' destruction of Czechoslovakia's democracy. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Petr Nečas
told mourners at Paumer's funeral in August 2010 that Paumer had made a heroic decision to fight oppression and should not be judged from today's perspective; "as free people we have the right to fight against enslavement with any, truly any means."
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
that attracted worldwide fame – and notoriety – for killing seven men in the early 1952s at robbery money plus arms and evading the biggest manhunt in the history of the Eastern Bloc
Eastern bloc
The term Eastern Bloc or Communist Bloc refers to the former communist states of Eastern and Central Europe, generally the Soviet Union and the countries of the Warsaw Pact...
. His five-man group, the Mašín
Mašín
Mašín is a Czech family name, most often associated with Josef Mašín and his sons, Ctirad Mašín and Josef Mašín jr.The former was a hero of Czech anti-Nazi resistance, the latter - often called the Mašín-Brothers - started armed anti-Communist resistance after the war...
Gang, carried out raids against state institutions in Czechoslovakia before being forced to flee to the West in October 1953. The group crossed the Czech border to East Germany, making their way to West Berlin
West Berlin
West Berlin was a political exclave that existed between 1949 and 1990. It comprised the western regions of Berlin, which were bordered by East Berlin and parts of East Germany. West Berlin consisted of the American, British, and French occupation sectors, which had been established in 1945...
while an estimated 25,000 East German policemen, soldiers and secret agents were searching for them. Two of their members were wounded in shootouts in which a total of four East German policemen were killed, but Paumer and the remaining two members of the Mašín Gang successfully made it to the West and ultimately to the United States.
After returning to the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
following the fall of Communism
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
, Paumer retired to his old home town. He remained a controversial figure who was reviled by some as a murderer but hailed by others as a heroic resistance figure. He was honoured by the Czech government in 2008 and the Czech Prime Minister, Petr Nečas
Petr Necas
Petr Nečas is the current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Leader of the Civic Democratic Party. He was sworn into office on 28 June 2010....
, declared that Paumer had made a heroic decision to fight Communist oppression.
Early life and anticommunist beginnings
Paumer was born in KolínKolín
Kolín is a town in the Central Bohemian Region of the Czech Republic some east from Prague, lying on the Elbe river.-History:Kolín was founded by king Přemysl Otakar II in the 13th century, first mentioned in 1261. Later on, 1437, a castle was founded here...
in eastern Bohemia
Bohemia
Bohemia is a historical region in central Europe, occupying the western two-thirds of the traditional Czech Lands. It is located in the contemporary Czech Republic with its capital in Prague...
on 7 April 1931. During his childhood he lived in the nearby town of Poděbrady
Podebrady
Poděbrady is a historical spa town in the Central Bohemian Region, Czech Republic. It lies on the river Labe 50 km east of Prague on the D11 highway. A historic milestone in the life of the town was the year 1905, when it was visited by the German estate owner Prince von Bülow...
. It was there that he first met Ctirad and Josef Mašín
Mašín
Mašín is a Czech family name, most often associated with Josef Mašín and his sons, Ctirad Mašín and Josef Mašín jr.The former was a hero of Czech anti-Nazi resistance, the latter - often called the Mašín-Brothers - started armed anti-Communist resistance after the war...
, two brothers whose war hero father, a Czechoslovak general, was murdered by the Nazis during the Second World War.
In 1948, the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, in Czech and in Slovak: Komunistická strana Československa was a Communist and Marxist-Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992....
seized power in a coup d'état
Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948
The Czechoslovak coup d'état of 1948 – in Communist historiography known as "Victorious February" – was an event late that February in which the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia, with Soviet backing, assumed undisputed control over the government of Czechoslovakia, ushering in over four decades...
and imposed a Stalinist dictatorship on the country. Paumer and the Mašín brothers decided to begin a campaign of armed resistance. They formed a group that became known as the "Mašín Gang" and began by carrying out minor acts of sabotage in the area around their home town, such as burning fields and defacing posters of Stalin. They decided to obtain weapons and in 1951 they raided two police stations, killing two policemen in the process. In a subsequent raid on a security van carrying a payroll to a manufacturing plant, the gang succeeded in stealing around a million Czechoslovak crowns but killed the van's cashier during the raid.
Escape to the West
In October 1953 the five members of the Mašín Gang embarked on an escape to the West to avoid imminent arrest by the Communist authorities. Paumer had been drafted into the Czechoslovak military but was alerted by a coded message from the Mašíns telling him that "The wedding is next Saturday". They made their way across the border to East Germany but fell afoul of a railway ticket inspector, who reported his suspicions of the group to the police. An attempted ambush by the East German police ended in a shootout that left one policeman dead and resulted in one of the Czechs, Zbyněk Janata, being captured. The remaining four escaped from the scene and went on the run.The East German authorities responded with a massive manhunt that was said to have involved up to 25,000 policemen, soldiers and Stasi
Stasi
The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security The Ministry for State Security (German: Ministerium für Staatssicherheit (MfS), commonly known as the Stasi (abbreviation , literally State Security), was the official state security service of East Germany. The MfS was headquartered...
secret agents. Paumer and his friends made their way across East Germany to West Berlin, living off the land, sleeping in the open in branch-covered holes and from time to time fighting off the police. During this time, three more East German policemen were killed in gun battles with the gang. Paumer himself was shot in the hip; although he suffered a painful injury, the wound did not immobilise him and he was able to continue with the escape. One of the other escapees, Václav Švéda, was not so lucky and was forced to surrender after being wounded.
At the time, the Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall
The Berlin Wall was a barrier constructed by the German Democratic Republic starting on 13 August 1961, that completely cut off West Berlin from surrounding East Germany and from East Berlin...
had not yet been built and the inner German border was still relatively easy to cross around West Berlin. Paumer and the Mašín brothers made it to the outskirts of Berlin by hiding in the undercarriage of a train. On 2 November 1953, they reached the West by crawling along a ditch. Paumer later recalled:
- "Finally we got to the beginning of Berlin. There was a street which what they did was cut it off, laid some wooden logs and barbed wire, and they dug a big ditch, which was about two metres deep. When we were in the ditch we were looking up to anxiously to get out. So I helped [Josef] and he helped pull me out. Then when we were finally on the street we saw a policeman. He took us to the station and then we were safe."
His colleagues Janata and Švéda, who had been captured earlier, were taken back to Czechoslovakia where they were executed in 1955. Ctibor Novak, the Mašíns' uncle, was also executed.
After the escape
Paumer and the Mašíns claimed political asylum in the West after their escape and eventually managed to reach the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Paumer himself became a sergeant in the United States Army
United States Army
The United States Army is the main branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military, and is one of seven U.S. uniformed services...
and served in South Korea
South Korea
The Republic of Korea , , is a sovereign state in East Asia, located on the southern portion of the Korean Peninsula. It is neighbored by the People's Republic of China to the west, Japan to the east, North Korea to the north, and the East China Sea and Republic of China to the south...
. He worked in the aeronautical industry in Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
after leaving the Army and later ran a café. Following the Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
of 1989, which ended Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the outstanding warrants against Paumer and the Mašíns were quashed by the new government. Paumer returned to his native country and settled again at Poděbrady, where he retired in 2001. He remained active in politics and was a frequent attendant at anticommunist gatherings.
His story was documented in the 2006 book Gauntlet: five friends, 20,000 enemy troops, and the secret that could have changed the course of the Cold War by Barbara Mašín (ISBN 9781591145158).
Controversy
Paumer's role in the killings of communist policemen and officials was and remains a controversial topic. He was praised as an anticommunist hero by some, but was regarded by others as a murderer who had killed without cause. He defended the killing of the policemen, saying that they had left him with no choice but to "do away" with them. He said that the payroll official had been killed after pulling a gun on the gang members and had been a member of the paramilitary People's MilitiaPeople's Militias (Czechoslovakia)
People's Militias was a militia organisation of Communist Party of Czechoslovakia during between 1948 and 1989.- History :...
.
The controversy over Paumer's activities resulted in him being cold-shouldered for many years by members of the post-Communist Czech government. It was not until 2008 that he was officially recognized by the government, when the then Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek
Mirek Topolánek is a former prime minister of the Czech Republic and former President of the European Council. A member of the Civic Democratic Party, he was chairman of the center-right party between November 2002 and March 2010, succeeding Václav Klaus, who was elected President in 2003.On 24...
presented him with an award. The decision led to a major controversy; a poll commissioned by Czech Television
Czech television
Czech television may refer to:*Television in the Czech Republic*Česká televize...
found that nearly half the population regarded the Mašín Gang as criminals. The Czech Communist Party demanded that Paumer be stripped of his award and put on trial, while members of the left-wing Czech Social Democratic Party
Czech Social Democratic Party
The Czech Social Democratic Party is a social-democratic political party in the Czech Republic.-History:The Social Democratic Czechoslavonic party in Austria was founded on 7 April 1878 in Austria-Hungary representing the Kingdom of Bohemia in the Austrian parliament...
suggested that Paumer and his colleagues were "not good role models" for a time when the country was fighting terrorism. Historians and commentators noted that many Czech people are still ambiguous about the Communist past, particularly as Paumer and the Mašíns were virtually alone in forcibly resisting the Communists' destruction of Czechoslovakia's democracy. Nonetheless, Prime Minister Petr Nečas
Petr Necas
Petr Nečas is the current Prime Minister of the Czech Republic and Leader of the Civic Democratic Party. He was sworn into office on 28 June 2010....
told mourners at Paumer's funeral in August 2010 that Paumer had made a heroic decision to fight oppression and should not be judged from today's perspective; "as free people we have the right to fight against enslavement with any, truly any means."
External links
- Pane prezidente, vyznamenání nechci, děkuji, Milan Paumer, Lidové novinyLidové novinyLidové noviny is a daily newspaper published in the Czech Republic. It is the oldest Czech daily. Its profile is nowadays a national news daily covering political, economic, cultural and scientific affairs, mostly with a centre-right, conservative view...
, 27 October 2006 - „Ten třetí“ od bratrů Mašínů, Silvie Blechová, Lidové noviny, 11 November 2005
- Milan Paumer's speech (video)
- Interview with Milan Paumer, 29 November 2006 MP3MP3MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
- Milan Paumer's memories (video), 17 January 2008