A watan Afrilu 1941, sa'ad da yake ɗan shekara biyar, 'yan Jamus sun kai wa Belgrade da Luftwaffe hari
ya jefa bam a gidansa. Iyayensa sun gudu tare da shi zuwa Hungary. A can, lokacin da yake da shekara takwas sun yi ƙoƙarin ɓoye shi a cikin wani gidan sufi don kiyayewa, suna gargadinsa ya ɓoye gaskiyar cewa shi Bayahude ne. Ya kasance cikin tsoro duk lokacin da za a gano shi, amma ya ce bayan wannan kwarewar ba ya jin tsoron komai.