In 1941, after the Nazi invasion, Hungary retook territories from Yugoslavia, sealing the fate of the Jewish population living there.
Otti's father died in 1941, and her mother in March 1944. In April, Otti and her brother Otto were sent to a detention camp for five weeks before being deported to Auschwitz. Recent research confirms that 1,580 Jews from the region, including Zmajevac, were rounded up and transported by train to Auschwitz on May 27th, arriving on May 29th, 1944, where Otti was killed immediately.