 They managed to turn the case of the writer imprisoned for his beliefs into a "cause célèbre".In August 1933 Magdeleine Paz was one of the signatories of an open letter addressed to Henri Barbusse protesting the fact that his periodical "Monde" had been silent about the case of Victor Serge.It was through the efforts of French left-wing intellectuals led by Magdeleine Paz that Serge was released and allowed to return to Belgium and then France in April 1936.