Paul was taken prisoner by the Nazis, but managed to escape and fled to Brittany,[1] where he established contact with the PCF and its regional leader, Auguste Havez.

In November 1940, he returned to Paris and led an insurgent group, the PCF's Organisation Spéciale ("Special Organization"), while creating connections with the trade unions.

[1] Paul also helped save the life of many inmates, including the industrialist Marcel Dassault,[1] who later became an important financial backer of the PCF newspaper L'Humanité.

After the ceremony on 11 November 1982 at the Place de l'Étoile in Paris, Paul was taken ill and died at his home a few hours later.

The great hall of the labour council in Saint-Denis bears his name, as well as a number of streets in various cities in France, including in the 14th arrondissement in Paris.

Laurent Wetzel, a CDS politician from Sartrouville, wrote an article in which he explained his refusal to support renaming a local street after Paul.

The Association Dora-Buchenwald and the Fédération nationale des déportés et internés résistants et patriotes filed a libel suit.