to his friend Hans Ankwicz-Kleehoven how he still lived: "I'm writing to you from my bathroom where we have crawled in because it is small and can be warmed on and off with a gas light. (!) The other rooms cannot be used and I cannot touch my piano. This is now! What awaits us further? Life is becoming more and more unpleasant, merciless. I teach at the Conservatory with the heat at 4 degrees, soon even less! [. . .]" During this period he composed a number of works including his Piano Sonata No. 2, Op. 60. The sonata was first performed by the composer on 29 November 1942 in the Brahmssaal of the Musikverein in Vienna. Hugo van Dalen gave the Dutch premiere on 9 February 1944 in Amsterdam. The war negatively impacted Bortkiewicz's finances. Most of his printed compositions were held by his German publishers Rahter & Litolff; they were destroyed in Allied bombing, resulting in the loss of all his income from the sale of his music. The health of Bortkiewicz and his wife delcined to the point that they were admitted for treatment at the Franz Joseph Hospital in Vienna by its chief physician Dr. Walter Zdrahal, a friend of the couple. In later life, Bortkiewicz's wife was diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder. After the War In the autumn of 1945 Bortkiewicz was appointed director of a master class at the Vienna City Conservatory, which helped to give the composer some of the financial security he so sought. During this period he composed his Six Preludes, Op. 66 (1946–47), of which only two—Numbers 1 and 3—have so far been located. These preludes are dedicated to the Dutch pianist Hélène Mulholland (1912–2000), who helped him after the war by sending much needed food and clothes. After his retirement in 1948, the community of Vienna awarded him an honorary pension. At the instigation of Hans Ankwicz-Kleehoven, a Bortkiewicz Society was founded in 1947 in Vienna in order to keep the memory of Bortkiewicz's music alive. The inaugural meeting took place in the library hall of the Akademie at Schillerplatz on 10 April 1947. As a result of that meeting, on the first Monday of each month from November to May, friends of the composer and members of the Society gathered in the Künstlerhaus and listened to concerts of the composer's music much of which was played