Following the Nazi seizure of power, Zinke went into hiding in Essen and in the Waldeck countryside before emigrating to the Netherlands in the spring of 1933. In January 1934, she returned with her husband to Essen, where she was questioned by police. In 1934, she was expelled from the Communist Party because she was unwilling to participate in illegal actions. After the assassination attempt on Hitler in July 1944, she was arrested on 26 August 1944 by the Gestapo as part of the mass arrest "Aktion Gitter" and was taken into "protective custody" in Essen. At the end of September 1944, she was transferred to the Ravensbrück concentration camp. While in transit there, Zinke was able to smuggle out a last note to her husband. Almost unreadable, it says: "Hopefully I have the strength to endure it all." ("„Hoffentlich habe ich die Kraft, das alles auszuhalten.“") Zinke was murdered on 6 November 1944.