Paul was born as the youngest child of the Winzen family. It is no longer possible to establish when he left home. He is still listed at this address in the Dortmund address directory of 1941, with his profession stated as a stationery dealer.

Paul Winzen was a member of, and the leading figure in, a Resistance group that had arisen from free-thinking/free-religious circles. The members of the group attended theatre performances and visited exhibitions together and discussed all manner of topics. Politically, they rejected both Soviet-style Communism and also Social Democracy. Their goal was for a humanist social order.

After 1933, the Dortmund-based group, which was also known as the Winzen-Group after the name of Paul Winzen, its founder, met at changing locations, and organized opposition to the government: so, for example, they printed leaflets opposing the Nazi regime, and also listened to foreign radio stations.

In 1940, finally, the group was infiltrated by an informer; the members were betrayed and arrested for belonging to the Winzen-Group.
The trial of Paul Winzen was held in February 1942 at the Volksgerichtshof, the so-called “People’s Court”, in Berlin. He and a further leading figure of the group, Josef Kasel (see the Stolperstein for Gneisenaustr. 89) were found guilty of “subversion of the national defence capability” and “preparation of acts of treason” and sentenced to death. Winzen was also found guilty of “crimes against the radio laws”.
The sentence was executed on 12 June 1942 in Berlin-Plötzensee.