Unlike most Legionnaires, who were imprisoned by Antonescu following the suppression of the coup attempt, Sima escaped imprisonment. Being housed first at the Sicherheitsdienst headquarters in Bucharest, Sima was evacuated on January 23 and hidden in the home of the Gestapo representative to Romania, but soon moved to his sister's residence in Bucharest. Soon after he was again moved by the Sicherheitsdienst to Brașov, and finally to Sibiu, disguised as an SS officer. Sima, alongside a number of other hidden Legionnaires, was able to leave Romania for Germany via Bulgaria, where they were placed in a villa on Ahornallee in Berlin, with a large group of Legionnaires living in nearby Berkenbrück. Though at first experiencing freedom of movement in Berlin, Sima and his companions were moved to Berkenbrück on 19 April 1941 and placed under strict surveillance. Meanwhile, Romanian authorities sentenced him (on 16 June 1941) to 12 years hard labour "in absentia" to ensure his permanent exile. In 1942, he escaped and fled to Italy, but was soon extradited back to Germany on the orders of Galeazzo Ciano. In his political journal, on 26 December 1942, Ciano wrote that, "Since got out of Germany with a false passport, Himmler demands his extradition. For my part, I advised the Duce to grant his extradition forthwith, especially since his presence here would create friction with Antonescu. And then, all things considered, there will be one less crook." After travelling to Italy, thus disobeying a contract signed with Germany meant to limit the political activities of the exiled Legionnaires, Sima and the others exiled were imprisoned in a special, humane section of the Buchenwald concentration camp specifically meant for Iron Guard members. By October 1943, Sima had been sentenced again, this time to a lifetime of hard labour, a fine of 10,000 lei, and five years of correctional imprisonment.