Camus' exile began when he traveled back to Paris. He arrived just before the German army had taken Paris and most of Northern France. What was left of the French army had become demoralized and was in a poor position to be able to defend the city. In 1943 Camus joined "Combat," a clandestine resistance cell and newspaper that had been founded in 1942 for underground intelligence and sabotage. Camus carried false papers for traveling in occupied territory and adopted the false identity "Beauchard". He helped by smuggling news of the war to the Parisian public via copies of the Combat paper. He became its editor in 1943, and held this position for four years. His articles often called for action in accordance to strong moral principals, and it was during this period of his life that he formalized his philosophy: that no matter how inexplicable existence might be, human life remains sacred.
