"Scena"s politics became the subject of debates and scrutiny with the November Armistice: the paper ended publication on the very day of its signing, by which time the Marghiloman government had already fallen. Herz was arrested at Galați in early December 1918, during a general clampdown on "Germanophiles". According to Marghiloman, the new government did not necessarily want him tried, but an Ententist journalist, Gheorghe Matei Corbescu, pulled the strings. Herz was formally deemed by the Government Commissioner as "posing a denager to the Allied troops", he was kept under guard at Hotel Modern, and interrogated alongside Dumitru Karnabatt, Dem. Theodorescu, and Saniel Grossman. "The Baron" was then sent to Văcărești prison, awaiting trial. While there, he witnessed the death in custody of I. C. Frimu, an activist of the Socialist Party. His testimonial on the subject argues that Frimu was "mercilessly beaten", which compromised his immunity and aggravated his typhus. At Văcărești, the playwright was also reunited with Bogdan-Pitești and met Ioan Slavici, who described "baron de Herz" as a "lively, spirited, sweet youth". Herz would later inspire the aged Slavici to write his memoirs, including details of his encounters with Mihai Eminescu. Herz claimed that Slavici had privately revealed himself as the real author of "Făt-Frumos din lacrimă", which is generally attributed to Eminescu.