Dozens attend mass in honour of late Josef Hasil

Dozens of people attended a commemorative mass in the village of Lažiště in South Bohemia on Saturday in honour of the late Josef Hasil, who died in the United States in November at the age of 95.

Mr Hasil, also known as the "King of Šumava", was a former border guard who helped people cross the tightly guarded Czechoslovak-German border after the onset of communism.

In 1949 he was exposed and arrested, but managed to escape from jail and serve as an agent for the CIA. He eventually emigrated to the United States.

"He was both courageous and devout, and saved dozens of people from imprisonment and death," the event’s organizer, Pavel Horešovský, said during his speech at the church.