When Rotterdam was bombed in May 1940, the Art Academy was completely destroyed. All of the students’ art works were also burned. Fiep was particularly distressed by the fact that all the etchings and etching plates she had worked on so hard and had been so fond of had been lost.

From 1941 till the end of 1943 Fiep lived at the home of Clara Eggink and Jan Campert in 
The Hague, where she often babysat Clara's son, Wim. Wim’s father was Jacques Bloem. Though Clara and Jacques were divorced, Jacques was a regular visitor and also became a good friend of Fiep’s.

In 1941 Clara Eggink wrote the poem The Woman and the Cormorant which Fiep illustrated.