In April 1943 Landau spent all the money she had set aside for the week on one meal. She prepared a simple dish of scrambled eggs and asparagus, with strawberries for dessert. She had a guest visiting, Helene Anker, Curt's cousin, who had emigrated and was then living in Los Angeles. Landau had stayed with her while touring with the league in Danzig, then a semi-independent citystate on the Baltic Sea. Anker had kindly prepared a reception for Landau and the league performers on that tour, and Landau wanted to return the favor, though on a more modest scale.

In Anker's mind Landau's circumstances overshadowed any wished-for hospitality. Upon arrival, Anker couldn't help but notice Landau's living situation, her tiny room in Jackson Heights. In general, apartments in the United States lacked the spaciousness of modern accommodations back in Berlin (or Europe more generally). Hugo Leichtentritt compared the two in his memoirs, though to him there was really no comparison: “The economy of space practiced in the large American cities was unknown in Berlin.” In Berlin even spaces that didn't need to be were large: broad halls and staircases, with balconies and porches. But Landau's room was small even by US standards. She had managed to fit in the room the grand piano she had stored, which left space for only a small bed, a tiny table with two chairs, and her books. The only option for movement was a walk out the door into the hall or a “jump out of the window at the other end of the room.”

Anker wanted Landau to think about a move. She was convinced that it was high time Landau consider how best to live her life. In a letter to Landau after Grete's death, Anker had admitted that Landau's niece and nephews must be an important focus. But, on the other hand, she wrote, “you must try to live your own life.”

Landau in many ways was trying to do just that. Given her many failures in New York, a friend had wondered if a career outside music might help. Perhaps Landau would be happier if she chose a more obliging profession.