Marcel Paul

Marcel Paul (; 12 July 1900 – 11 November 1982) was a French trade unionist and communist politician. He was also a Nazi concentration camp survivor and later served as a member of the French parliament.

Biography Marcel Paul was a foundling. His birthday is given as 12 July 1900, the date he was found in the 14th arrondissement in Paris. He began working at age 13, and became politically active at the age of 15 with socialist youth against the war.

After the liberation of France, he became Minister of Industrial Production of the interim government under Charles de Gaulle. He voted for nationalization of electricity and natural gas on April 8, 1946, creating Électricité de France and Gaz de France. He was deputy leader of the PCF in Haute-Vienne at the Second Constituent National Assembly and served in the French National Assembly from 1945 to 1948, when he resigned. Paul was on the Central Committee of the PCF from 1945 to 1964.

Paul was named an officer of the French Legion of Honor in April 1982. 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.

Legacy

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. Many streets, avenues, squares, halls and tramway stations bear his name. A stele paying tribute to him has been erected on the cliff top overlooking the Flamanville nuclear site (Manche). In 1992 the French Post Office issued a postage stamp in tribute to his memory.

Post-mortem controversy Two years after Paul's death, a controversy arose concerning his activities in Buchenwald. Laurent Wetzel, a CDS politician from Sartrouville, wrote an article in which he explained his refusal to support renaming a local street after Paul. He accused Paul of having cooperated with the internal management at the camp, thereby having determined the fate (the death) of a number of prisoners and he accused Paul of having given greater priority to the interests of his party. The Association Dora-Buchenwald and the Fédération nationale des déportés et internés résistants et patriotes filed a libel suit. The trial was held in Versailles and heard testimony from a number of former concentration camp prisoners. Wetzel was acquitted but the court refused to rule on the historical truth. A similar accusation had been raised against Paul in 1946.