On the night of the pogrom from November 9th to 10th, 1938, the synagogue in Rexingen was set on fire by SA men and destroyed inside. Torah scrolls and prayer books were burned in and in front of the synagogue. The synagogue could no longer be used.

Most of the Jewish men from Rexingen were arrested and imprisoned in the Dachau concentration camp. Among them was Ilse's father, Wilhelm Wälder.

Her brother Sally, who had been staying in Frankfurt, was taken from there to the Buchenwald concentration camp. After his release in February 1939, he managed to escape to the USA via Sweden. He was shortly followed by his sister Hella with her husband and child.