for many months after coming to new york, joe's drive to help his family shows through in his work, which remains violently anti-nazi despite his employer's concerns. in the meantime, he spends more and more time with rosa, appearing as a magician in the bar mitzvahs of the children of rosa's father's acquaintances, even though he sometimes feels guilty for distracting himself from fighting for his family. after multiple attempts and considerable monetary sacrifice, joe ultimately fails to get his family to the states, his last attempt having resulted in putting his younger brother aboard a ship that was destroyed by a german u-boat. distraught and unaware that rosa is pregnant with his child, joe enlists in the navy, hoping to fight the germans. instead, he is sent to a secluded naval base in antarctica. after a faulty chimney fills the base with carbon monoxide, joe emerges from this interlude the lone survivor from his station. when he makes it back to new york, he is ashamed to show his face again to rosa and sammy. he squats in a hideout in the empire state building, known only to a small circle of magician-friends.