The German Gestapo arrested Maklakov in April 1941; he then spent several months in jail without trial. Throughout World War II, he kept in touch with the French Resistance movement. In February 1945, Maklakov and several surviving members of the Provisional Government visited the Soviet embassy to express their pride and gratitude for the war effort of the Russian people. The visit was controversial among the émigré community, particularly after émigrés learned that Maklakov and others had drunk a toast "to the motherland, to the Red Army, to Stalin".