after returning to antibes, lévy was arrested by italian police on the 4 may 1943 and detained in secret in nice. during an interrogation he found himself with peter churchill and others, but pretended not to know them. he was transferred to imperia, where he had to break pebbles on the roads, then moved to chiavari. amedeo rocchegiani, who sent money and helped jewish and political prisoners, organised the escape of lévy so that he could have found refuge in the hospital in ancona, but he refused, having given his word as an officer not to escape.