On the fall of France in 1940, Eugenio d'Ors returned to Madrid. From his office he made contact with the German Embassy in Madrid in the hope that through wartime diplomatic channels he would be able to use his influence to have the original drawings prised out of Poland and sent to him in Madrid; and, indeed, his standing was such that he was successful in his efforts. Two members of the Gestapo in Warsaw presented themselves at the offices of Przeworski to the utter terror of the proprietors for whom a visit from the Gestapo spelles- as they thoght- certain arrest, and probably death; the story of the visit was recounted to Topolski after the war by Dr. Przeworski, the brother of Marek, the head of the publishing firm who had died in the Ghetto uprising. They requirements were, however, less demanding- quite simply the portfolio of Topolski's drawings.
It is not entirely clear from the correspondence passing between d'Ors and Topolski when exactly the drawings arrived in Madrid, since in d'Ors' first surviving letter of 19th of May 1941, he tells Topolski that in letters which he had written to him in the previous autumn ( and which never arrived at destination) he had told him how the drawings had been finally retrieved; and yet in a later letter of 6th of February 1942, he tells Topolski that the drawings had been in Madrid since 'last summer', but that he had not been informed on account of the illness and absence of the person to whom they had been entrusted. Could it be that the drawings rested in Berlin on their way from Warsaw to Madrid and that the missing letters did not refer to their arrival in Madrid? According to d'Ors, 'they' ( presumably the Germans) were prepared to release the drawings to him on condition that he presented himself as proprietor and at the same time- according to his last information ( 10th May 1941) that he deposited with 'them' a sum equivalent to the value of the drawings according to the publishing contract. All the while d'Ors was working with José Janés, a publisher from Barcelona with a view to producing a Spanish edition of the book. There were, however, certain problems to be overcome. Janés left for Barcelona, having asked d'Ors to give him a week ot two to work things out; and in turn d'Ors asked Topolski to leave to him the handling of the affair, on the understanding that 'as soon as the present circumstances ceased' he would pass the drawings back to him.
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