At Ernsdorf during the war she was frequently on emergency shifts lasting 24 hours. Food and drink were strictly rationed, while military offices enjoyed much less restricted rations than those designated as civilians. Renate Malluche accordingly resolved to have herself transferred to the military, and she became one of two female doctors to be promoted to the status of an army officer. After the war ended, in May 1945, she was one of millions subjected to ethnic cleansing in connection with the westward shift of Polish frontiers agreed between the leaders of the winning powers: she ended up as a self-employed physician in Gößweinstein, a small town in lower Bavaria located between Nuremberg and Bayreuth.