England and France declared war on Germany in September, 1939, and Vladimir, feeling greater allegiance to France than to England, returned to Paris and enlisted in the French army. Wounded, captured and escaping from a German POW camp, made his way to the South of France where Karinska's sister, Angelina, was living. Angelina, who had just received Karinska's address in New York from Irène in Paris, by way of the underground, put mother and adopted son in touch once more.