Accessing files removed from the trunk

[Matthew Rich]

I had a developer remove a set of files (directory) 
in the trunk from the repository using cvs remove.  It
appears that I no have access to these files via a
branch made previously.  I thought that a file that is
removed is still accessible by previous tags and
branches. 
I checked out a branch and the files are not there. 
Do I need to add them back to all the branches?  This
does not see right.
Please enlighten me.

Matt