From 1941, Lotte Kahle née Schloss had to perform forced labor in Berlin. In October 1942 she and her also Jewish partner Herbert Strauss narrowly evaded deportation and had to go underground. August Sapandowski, a communist master painter and decorator, hid the two of them in his basement.
Lotte’s uncle Ludwig Schöneberg lived in Switzerland, and managed to find escape helpers: Luise Meier in Berlin, and Willy Vorwalder and Josef Höfler in the border region of Baden. After more than six months in various hiding places, Lotte Kahle travelled to Singen with Luise Meier at the end of April 1943. Once they arrived, Vorwalder took Kahle to Höfler, who lived in the border village of Gottmadingen, and she stayed overnight in his home. The next morning, May 1, 1943, Höfler led her to the border – accompanied by his wife and daughter, so it looked like a family walk. Shortly later, Herbert Strauss also escaped by the same route. The couple married in Switzerland in 1944 and emigrated to the United States in 1946.