He was a militant for POUM, a Trotskyist political party, and he went to France shortly before the Spanish Civil War. In the Second World War he took part in the French Resistance, joining the Armored Division which was commanded by General Leclerc, who participated in the liberation of Paris on the 25th of August, 1944. He was known by the nickname "The Swede". He rejected Samitier's invitation to attend the inauguration of the Camp Nou with a resounding phrase, "I will not return while Franco is in power".
