Immediately following the outbreak of World War Two, Heinz Trökes had to make a very difficult decision. He ended his exile in Switzerland and returned to Germany. He often wrote in his diary that he hoped this period of return would not last long. Trökes’ German student ID card from the summer semester of 1940 shows that these hopes were dashed.

After re-entering Germany in the autumn of 1939, Heinz Trökes was able to make a living in his home town of Krefeld. However, his situation was precarious and the dictates of the Nazis made it impossible for him to sell his art. As a precaution, Trökes no longer signed his works with his full name.

There was hardly any demand for textile designs and the fashion industry had been severely hit by the war. In addition to this, Trökes lived in constant fear of being enlisted. In these tense times he decided to study again and enrolled in the Krefeld textile academy “Höhere Fachschule für Textile Flächenkunst” joining the master class run by Georg Muche. After a year of studying there, Trökes hoped to gain better career opportunities in the textile industry. However, he would have preferred to go abroad again.

Trökes was ultimately prevented from choosing either of these options. Hardly a year had passed before he was called upon to join the military and it was not until after 1945 that he was once again able to pursue his art in freedom – and to live in faraway places, naturally no longer “in exile”.