[2]:452 He fought in World War I during his obligatory military service in the French Army and was severely wounded during battle.

He started writing for the NRF in 1920 and Jean Paulhan invited him to be a member of the journal's editorial committee as early as 1926.

[7]:41 He published one of his most important texts in 1931, Inquiétude et Reconstruction, which provided a survey of French literature since the turn of the century.

[2]:458 He was arrested, imprisoned, and deported to Nazi Germany, where, in April 1944 he was executed in the Buchenwald concentration camp.[2]:458.

Crémieux introduced a number of important literary figures to the French public through his translations, including Luigi Pirandello and Italo Svevo;[8]:138 he was also an early champion of the works of Marcel Proust.