Max Auschnitt lived for a while with Livia and Gustave's family in Biarritz, but grew estranged from his wife, and decided to settle as a bachelor in the US. He joined Edgar and Steve in New York City, where he acquired American citizenship, though he continued to send money to Livia and his child by her. Malaxa also headed for America, but Auschnitt repeatedly sought to prevent him from settling there. As part of this conflict, he directed a press campaign which overstated Malaxa's links with the Iron Guard, including unsubstantiated charges that Malaxa's home had been a mass-murder hub for the 1941 pogrom. According to journalist Romulus Căplescu, this allegation was not proffered by Auschnitt ("a decent, common-sense person"), but was rather the product of spontaneous sensationalism.