Ignaz's sons continued to manage the businesses, but with the rise of the Hitlerites to power in neighboring Germany, the situation became very complicated. The family tried to transfer some of the businesses to South American companies, and after the occupation of the border area, the family moved to Brno to the relatives of Mrs. Petschek, née Blochová. In Brno, the family owned a now famous villa on Hlinky Street. They managed to emigrate, first to England, then via the port of Havana to the USA.
In December 1939, most of the Petschek family's property from Ústí nad Labem was transferred to Reichswerke "Hermann Göring", the rest of the property was confiscated by the tax office on the basis of a fictitious tax debt of emigrants who saved their lives by fleeing.
The villa then housed the Nazi police presidium, and after the liberation it housed the headquarters of the National Security and the offices of the National Committee. From 1962 until the fall of the communist regime, the building served as the headquarters of the district committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia.
Five years after the fall of the communist regime, the street was renamed Winston Churchill Street. A commemorative plaque was attached to Ignaz's villa to commemorate this act.