 In October 1941, he took 6th at the 2nd General Government chess tournament in Kraków/Warsaw (Alexander Alekhine and Paul Felix Schmidt won).Because of his linguistic skills (he spoke Polish, German, Russian, English, and French), he was appointed by the German Army as an interpreter.After the end of World War II, he returned to Łódź, was arrested by the newly appointed communist authorities and sentenced for collaboration with the fascist regime to serve four years in a labor camp.