In 1938 Cohen sold the building to the City of Warsaw, which decided to renovate it, but the plans were not implemented because of the outbreak of World War II.

The first days of the war saw the destruction of the palace: during the Siege of Warsaw in September 1939, the Germans burned down the building, with only the colonnade staying intact.

Marshal Marian Spychalski, proposed turning the palace, so that it aligned with the Saxon Axis and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

[7][8] Previously, in 1985, a monument had been built in front of the palace to the "Fallen in the Service and Defense of the People's Republic of Poland", designed by Jan Bohdan Chmielewski.

This was demolished in 1991, having been nicknamed by the inhabitants of Warsaw as the "Monument of the Stabilizers" [of the socialist regime] or the "Ubelisk" (for the Stalinist-era Office of Security, commonly known by its acronym UB).

Today, the palace is home to the Business Centre Club, a media center and the Uczelnia Warszawska im.