She was in Berlin in November 1938 to experience National Crystal Night ("Reichskristallnacht") when synagogues and the premises of Jewish businesses were attacked. She experienced the officially sanctioned pogrom from the streets but her book store was spared. As war loomed she accepted that there was no future left for her in Germany, and in August 1939 she escaped as a passenger on a special train to Paris organised by the French embassy. Her personal belongings were seized by the Nazis. In Berlin, the remaining stock of the "Maison du Livre français" was also seized.