Charles Masy

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Charles Masy , sometimes also Charles Mazy (* 1925 ) is a Belgian former mercenary during the Simba rebellion in the Congo . He became known through photo and film recordings in which he posed with human skulls .

Life

According to his own statement, Masy became a member of the Belgian resistance at the age of 17 and joined the Belgian SAS during the war . After the war he therefore served with the Para-Commandos . He left Belgium for the Congo after beating up a police officer. During the Katanga secession, Masy was hired as one of the first mercenaries in the newly proclaimed state's armed forces, led by Belgian officers, where he stayed until the uprising was put down in 1962.In 1962, he served under Bob Denard in the Bison group of 25 Europeans and 50 Africans.

During the Simba Rebellion two and a half years later, Masy served in the 5th command of Irish mercenary leader Mike Hoare . He took part in the unit's first action, the disastrous attack on Albertville and later in the liberation of Stanleyville . On August 21, 1964 he was appointed lieutenant and supplies officer. From September 9, 1964, he served as a liaison officer in the 52nd Command under Siegfried Müller , a platoon of the 5th Command . He was involved in the failed attack on Boende on September 19, as a result of which almost half of Müller's men left the unit. Compared to the star - reporter Gerd Heidemann mercenaries justified their departure with their dissatisfaction with Masy, she as a daredevil and Cowboy designated. During this time photo and film recordings were made in which Masy posed with skulls. They were published, for example, by the magazine Quick . In the documentary Africa Addio, Masy also handled three human skulls.

In the GDR - propaganda film The Laughing Man - Confessions of a murderer of directors Walter Heynowski and Gerhard Scheu man speak that their interviewees Siegfried Müller on Masy to: "He has become known for being a specialist in the production of skulls." Müller replied: "These pictures that are well known - that is irony. (...) Masy has skulls that were eaten away by insects, worms and so on, he washed it off and not boiled it up. That is a story, good for the press. (...) These photos were not taken because he was interested in the skulls - he already had one - but the press people wanted some as a souvenir. " The description of Müller is illustrated with intercut photos of Masy handling the skulls. A picture of Masy with an impaled skull adorned the picture book "Kannibalen" published by Heynowski and Scheumann in 1967 , which was supposed to depict the mercenaries as the henchmen of Western imperialism .

In the seventies and eighties Masy ran the bar La Renaissance in Brussels , better known as Simba-Bar by regular customers because it was supposedly the only place outside Katanga where Simba beer was served. Veterans of the wars in Angola , Biafra and the Congo met in the bar . During the civil war in Angola , Masy's bar in Brussels served as a point of contact for mercenaries who wanted to hire themselves out for the western-backed FNLA independence movement . In the eighties it was still a meeting place for mercenaries looking for a job as well as for Belgian and foreign soldiers.

literature

  • Christian Bunnenberg: The "Congo miller". A German mercenary career , Lit-Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-8258-9900-4
  • Walter Heynowski / Gerhard Scheumann: cannibals. An occidental poetry album in self-testimonies , collaboration Peter Hellmich, design Wolfgang Geisler, Verlag der Nation Berlin 1967
  • Christopher Othen: Katanga 1960-63. Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that waged War on the World , The History Press, Brimscombe Port Stroud, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7509-6288-9

Movies

  • Walter Heynowski / Gerhard Scheumann (script and direction): The laughing man. Confessions of a Murderer , 1966
  • Gualtiero Jacopetti / Franco Prosperi (Director): Africa Addio , 1966
  • Siegfried Ressel (script and direction): Kongo Müller. A German-German story , 2010

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.fotokritik.de/artikel_94_mobil.html
  2. ↑ Christopher Othen: Katanga 1960-63. Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that waged War on the World , The History Press, Brimscombe Port Stroud, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7509-6288-9 , p. 84
  3. ^ John Scott: Brussel's Simba Bar. Saloon for Mercs , in: Soldier of Fortune , August 1987, pp. 60ff
  4. ↑ Christopher Othen: Katanga 1960-63. Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that waged War on the World , The History Press, Brimscombe Port Stroud, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7509-6288-9 , p. 197
  5. ↑ Christopher Othen: Katanga 1960-63. Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that waged War on the World , The History Press, Brimscombe Port Stroud, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7509-6288-9 , p. 229
  6. ^ Christian Bunnenberg: The "Congo Miller". A German mercenary career , Lit-Verlag, Münster 2006, ISBN 978-3-8258-9900-4 , pp. 53-60
  7. ↑ http://www.fotokritik.de/artikel_94_mobil.html
  8. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gTue4k_RwE From 1:50:39
  9. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGAUW1ZF2xI , from 38:56
  10. ↑ http://www.fotokritik.de/artikel_94_mobil.html
  11. ↑ Christopher Othen: Katanga 1960-63. Mercenaries, Spies and the African Nation that waged War on the World , The History Press, Brimscombe Port Stroud, 2015, ISBN 978-0-7509-6288-9 , p. 9
  12. ↑ http://jfk.hood.edu/Collection/White%20Materials/Angola/Angola%20054.pdf
  13. ↑ Erich Wiedemann: "Kill them all, God sorts out the villains" . In: Der Spiegel . No. 52 , 1983 ( online - Dec. 26, 1983 ).
  14. ^ John Scott: Brussel's Simba Bar. Saloon for Mercs , in: Soldier of Fortune , August 1987, pp. 60ff
personal data
SURNAME Masy, Charles
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mazy, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Belgian former mercenary during the Simba rebellion in the Congo
DATE OF BIRTH 1925