©Gedenkstätte Buchenwald
Having come from a poor background, Marcel Paul found his way to the Communists early in life by way of the Socialist Youth and rose to become a top-ranking official in the French trade union movement. He was arrested in 1941 for belonging to a resistance group, and deported to the Buchenwald concentration camp three years later. There, he and the Gaullist Manhès succeeded in uniting the fractured French inmate groups. In addition to a committee for mutual aid, they founded a French liberation brigade, which was structured in military manner. As a Communist he also represented the French in the International Camp Committee. After the war he became the French minister of the industry and was active in inmates’ associations.
